Naruto: Hidden Potential
by SlytherinNinjaKnight
Summary: Naruto has left the village of his birth, traveling under the protection of Jiraiya the Toad Sage in hopes of growing strong enough to protect himself and Konoha from the Akatsuki and anyone who would threaten it, training and performing missions straight from the Hokage herself. Follow along as Naruto tries to reach the hidden potential within him. Rated M for violence and safety
1. A Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine! The series and all its problems belong to Kishimoto and SP, I'm just going through and trying to fix all the problems I had with the series that captured my imagination. Hope you all enjoy it.**

 **A/N: Hi all, I'm back and with my newest story, the second part to my Naruto series recap. It will cover Naruto's journey while training under Jiraiya, plus there will be cameos from the other members of the Konoha 12 since I am actually going to try and make those characters more three dimensional than the paper flat characters that Kishimoto made them. Have fun.**

 **Key:**

 **JUTSU**

"Talking"

' _Thoughts'_

It had been a week since Naruto had left the village of Konoha with Jiraiya of the Sannin, having been given a leave of absence from his ninja duties under the pretense of training under Jiraiya's tutelage, to get stronger and defend himself from the Akatsuki, as well as Kumo and Iwa. With Orochimaru's release of Naruto's heritage and his status as the jinchuriki of the Kyubi in the bingo book, Tsunade and the Council decided it was best for all if Naruto was trained outside the village and under the protection of Jiraiya. And so here Naruto was, trudging along after Jiraiya as the pair made their way through the thick forests that covered much of the Land of Fire.

"Ok Naruto, here's a good spot to stop for a bit," Jiraiya said as the pair came to a clearing in the forest. The Sannin dropped the large scroll he carried to the ground and turned to face his apprentice. "Let's see how far you've come with the **Swamp of the Underworld**."

Naruto frowned as he dropped his backpack on the ground and walked several steps away. Taking a deep breath, Naruto's hands slowly formed the two hand seals needed for the jutsu. " **Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!** " Naruto slammed his hands to the ground and channeled his chakra into the earth.

"Remember, you must use your chakra to soften the earth into mud," Jiraiya said. "While this jutsu is an earth jutsu, you must use your chakra like water, softening and turning the dirt into mud."

"I know," Naruto growled as he channeled more of his chakra into the dry earth. The ground in front of Naruto slowly turned muddy.

"Still pathetic," Jiraiya commented. "Come on Naruto, you managed to learn the **Rasengan** , the jutsu your father created, in less than a month but you can't perform a simple B-rank Earth jutsu."

"Hey, its not as easy as you think," Naruto snapped, sitting back on the ground. "I just can't manage to change the ground into mud. I don't have a strong enough earth affinity."

"Don't give me excuses Naruto," Jiraiya said. "A ninja doesn't make excuses, he endures. Are you really going to give up that easily? A Hokage wouldn't let a simple jutsu stump him."

"I'm not giving up," Naruto growled. "It's just this jutsu isn't me. I'm not a guy who traps his opponents like that."

"Exactly Naruto," Jiraiya said sharply. "With who is after you Naruto, you're going to have to be able to perform many different skills. A predictable ninja is a dead ninja. Try it again."

Naruto sighed but stood up, dusting himself off and raised his hands. " **Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!** "

Jiraiya watched as the ground directly in front of Naruto turned a muddy brown, spreading out rapidly. "Better," he commented. "But you still have a long way to go," Jiraiya added leaping into the middle of the swamp/puddle, kicking up a spray of muddy water right into Naruto's face.

"Ah! What the hell!" Naruto shouted. "Why'd you do that?"

"You need to pick up the pace," Jiraiya said. "And make it deeper, you won't even sink a rat in this puddle."

Naruto snarled up at the Sannin, wiping his face clear of the mud. "I don't know how I am going to make it through this trip without killing you," the blonde said.

"You've got a long way to go before you can even dream of killing me Naruto," Jiraiya laughed. "Now do it again."

"Why won't you let me use my **Shadow Clones** to speed up my training?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya gave Naruto a stoic look. "Fine," he agreed. "But only ten clones at one time, you are still too young to be over using this method. If you use too many clones at one time, you would fry your brain, and I don't fancy explaining to Tsunade why you are brain dead."

"Fine," Naruto said. " **Multi Shadow Clones!** "

Ten copies of Naruto popped into existence around the original. "Right then you clones, you know the drill," Naruto said. "Get to work."

The clones nodded and set off to various in the clearing where they could practice the jutsu.

"Naruto, come over here," Jiraiya said. The original Naruto turned away from his patch of muddy ground and faced his sensei. Seeing the serious look on the older man's face, Naruto thought better of snapping at the man for interrupting his training and walked over to Jiraiya.

"What do you want Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I know that you've been using weight seals to train your speed and strength," Jiraiya said. Naruto nodded. "Well release them. I've got a better set you will use." The Sannin reached into his jacket and pulled out a battered set of weights.

"What are those?" Naruto asked after releasing and removing this weights seals.

"These are the weights your father trained with, "Jiraiya said. "He fastened them after normal weights that ninja like Gai or his clone use but these are smaller and use chakra instead of just metal. They also are more durable than pure weight seals." Here Jiraiya pulled out one of the metal bars from its pouch. "Since the seal was etched into the metal, you don't run the risk of the seal being worn away. Also there are seals on these that will spread the weight around your body rather than just on your arms and legs."

"My dad used these?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "They helped him become the fastest ninja alive even without his **Flying Thunder God** jutsu," he said. "Now they are yours."

Naruto took the set from Jiraiya and looked more closely at the weights. He ran his fingers over the etched seals, feeling his fingers tingle slightly at the cool touch.

"That's another thing I am going to make sure you learn on this trip," Jiraiya said causing Naruto to look up again. "You can have all the power and jutsus in the world but if you can't hit your opponent, it won't matter. Speed is the ultimate equalizer in this world. If you can be faster than your opponent, you will win many more battles because of it."

"Speed kills."

"That it does Naruto, and never forget it," Jiraiya said. "Now put them on and channel chakra into them and don't stop until I say so."

Naruto gave Jiraiya a questioning look but did as was requested, pulling on the weight bands and started channeling chakra into them. Immediately Naruto felt his limbs and chest grow heavy.

"Good, that's enough for now," Jiraiya said a moment later. "Get up."

Naruto slowly got to his feet, swaying slightly from the weight.

"Did Kakashi tell you the risks about using weight seals?" Naruto nodded slowly. "Well just to make sure you know since if you misuse could become overstressed and damaged. So you will release those weights one hour before we stop for the night and for one hour in the morning, that way you can adjust to your body without the weight. Additionally you will not increase the weight you are wearing without discussing it with me. I helped your father with this training, so I will know when you are ready to add more weight."

Naruto nodded, his limbs shaking slightly from the extra weight. "How long did it take Dad to fully use this training method?" he asked.

"Minato used it for years," Jiraiya answered. "This method can be used for pretty much all your life, as long as you can take it and use it responsibly. Now get back to working on the **Swamp of the Underworld**."

Naruto huffed but headed back to his chosen spot amongst his clones. He reached his patch of grass and nearly fell to a knee. ' _Wow, the weight is catching up with me already_ ,' Naruto thought. ' _Dad, how much weight did you usually carry?_ '

"Getting tired already Naruto?" Jiraiya called.

"Piss off," Naruto snapped. He looked at his clones that were watching him. "What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

The clones quickly went back to work, though several of them were grinning at their creator.

"Ok Naruto, go ahead and dispel your clones, one at a time though," Jiraiya ordered. Naruto got to his feet, dusted off his pants and turned to the ten clones that were waiting and watching the original. With a mental command, the clones vanished one at a time and Naruto shivered as the ten clones' memories assaulted his mind. Naruto had to close his eyes just to make sure he didn't fall over.

"You good Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto nodded slowly, his head still pounding from acclimating the memories. "I'm ok," he said.

"Good, now try out the jutsu again," Jiraiya ordered.

Naruto grit his teeth but kept his mouth shut. Breezing through the two hand signs, Naruto said, " **Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!** " Slamming his palms on the ground, Naruto watched as the dirt in front of him turned a reddish-brown.

Jiraiya grinned as he watched the swamp his student had created. "Much better Naruto," he said. "Now why were you more successful this time than before?"

Naruto frowned. He honestly didn't know, it just felt easier to perform the jutsu. "I don't know Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto said. "It just was easier."

"Ok while we are moving, I want you to think on why the jutsu was easier this time," Jiraiya said. "And if you don't figure it out by the time we stop for the night, well lets just say you won't be having an easy time getting to sleep tonight."

Naruto shivered at the smile that Jiraiya gave him. It reminded him of the second proctor from the Chunin Exams, Anko, and her over the top attitude.

"Grab your gear Naruto, we've got ground to make up," Jiraiya said picking up the scroll. Naruto picked up his backpack and leapt off after Jiraiya.

"Whoa!" Naruto yelped as he nearly crashed into a tree trunk for the second time in only ten minutes of moving.

"Come on Naruto, pick up the pace!" Jiraiya barked not even glancing over his shoulder back at Naruto.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm still getting used to this new weight," Naruto said.

"Well you better figure it out quick cause I'm not slowing down," Jiraiya said.

Naruto growled at the Sannin's not caring about his problem. "Let me lower the weight I'm carrying and I'll be able to keep up," Naruto argued.

"Nope," Jiraiya said. "That would just ignore the training weights in the first place. This training method is as much mental as it is physical. You must preserve and overcome your limitations in order to get truly strong. And besides, your father wouldn't complain so quickly."

Naruto bit off another growl at the Sannin but got to his feet and launched himself off the branch he had been kneeling on. "I can take anything you hand out Jiraiya-sensei."

"Then quit complaining and keep moving," Jiraiya laughed.

* * *

"All right Naruto, I want you to release your weights," Jiraiya ordered two hours later. "We'll be stopping for the evening soon so I want you to get used to not having your weights activated."

Naruto nodded. He was too tired to speak. After wiping the sweat from his face, Naruto touched the quick release on the weight bands and put them away in his backpack.

"Take a few minutes to get loose," Jiraiya said. "I don't want you to hurt yourself adjusting to your lighter weight."

"Ok," Naruto said dropping his backpack to the ground and began stretching. His arms and legs were trembling after running and leaping through the forest for two hours.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Fine," Naruto said standing up straight. He couldn't believe how light he felt now, he felt like he could jump higher than ever before.

"Good, let's get moving then," Jiraiya said. "I want to get a little farther tonight before we stop. We are a little too close to the border of Kusa for my liking."

"Has there been any word on Kumo or Iwa since we left the village?" Naruto asked. He felt somewhat responsible for the situation that was brewing between Konoha, Iwa, Kumo and Oto, even though it wasn't his fault. With Orochimaru releasing Naruto's heritage, both Iwa and Kumo felt threatened by the announcement of the Namikaze line surviving and had begun to mobilize in response. Minato had been the boogeyman to both Kumo and Iwa during the Third Shinobi World War, decimating both villages' armies with his **Flying Thunder God** jutsu.

"Hey Jiraiya-sensei, can you teach me the **Flying Thunder God** jutsu?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya slipped and nearly fell face planted at Naruto's question. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"Well yeah I'm serious," Naruto said. "That jutsu was the one that made my father so feared, and it would be a great tool to have in my arsenal. And I'm sure that Iwa and Kumo haven't forgotten about what my father did with that jutsu."

"Before you can even think of recreating your father's jutsu, you need to learn fuinjutsu at a mastery level," Jiraiya said. "Hell brat, I'm a fuinjutsu master and I couldn't make heads or tails of the seal that your father created."

"Well then teach me," Naruto said. "If dad's jutsu could spread so much fear in the Third War, then it should have an even greater effect when it's his son laying waste to Konoha's enemies."

Jiraiya looked at his apprentice, watching as two shimmering figures seemed to phase into existence at Naruto's sides; a tall blonde man wearing a white haori with orange flames along the hem, and a beautiful red haired woman with piercing violet eyes that had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"When we stop for the night, we'll start your training," Jiraiya said. "I want to know how far you've come in your own work before I get you working on anything to advanced."

Naruto nodded with a big grin. "Well let's get moving then!" he cried.

Jiraiya shook his head at the hyper blonde before leaping back into the trees with Naruto on his heels.

An hour later, Jiraiya called for a stop as he and Naruto reached the edge of the forest.

"Ok Naruto, we're walking from here," Jiraiya said. "We are close to the border and we are going undercover. We are both recognizable to our enemies, so you need to change your appearance. Make yourself look unremarkable, someone forgettable but so don't be radical. Simple is better."

"Ok," Naruto said. He put his hands in a Ram seal and muttered, " **Transform!** "

In a puff of smoke, Naruto's blonde hair turned a light brown, his blue eyes became a light green and his skin darkened to a tan more suited to that of someone who lived in the Land of Wind. The only thing that stayed the same on Naruto's face were the whisker marks that had been in place since his birth.

"Not bad but take this," Jiraiya said taking a small jar from his pocket and tossing it to Naruto.

"What's this?"

"Make-up."

"Make-up? Like women's make-up?"

"Yes," Jiraiya said. "The simplest methods are usually the best. And this way someone can't release your jutsu. When we get to the village that's just a bit ahead, you'll be going old school."

"Old school?"

"Hair dye and contacts," Jiraiya answered. "As Konoha's premiere spy master, you learn these things. And so will you."

Naruto nodded and opened the jar.

"Cover your whiskers, they are a dead giveaway to who you actually are," Jiraiya ordered.

Naruto dipped his fingers into the jar and scooped out a glob of the make-up and covered his cheeks with it. "How's that?" he asked.

"Good," Jiraiya said. "Now that stuff won't wash away with just water, it needs a specific type of remover so even if you get hit by a water jutsu right in the face it won't come off."

"Wow," Naruto said.

"Now keep moving."

The pair reached a small village that straddled the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass just as it began to get dark. They found a small inn on the outskirts of the village where they got a room.

"Ok Naruto, if you even want to think about learning the **Flying Thunder God** you'll need to be even better at fuinjutsu than me and that book is the best way for you to start," Jiraiya said tossing a small, weather-beaten book to Naruto.

'A Beginners Guide to Sealing' was the title but the author's name had been worn away from time and use, making it impossible to read.

"That was mine at one time," Jiraiya said. "And I gave it to your father when he first took an interest in sealing."

Naruto opened the book and saw that it was filled with doodles and scribbles from several different people judging from the different hand writing styles. "My dad read this?" Naruto asked.

"Yep," Jiraiya said. "The notes in there are from me, your dad and your mom."

"My mom and dad both read this?"

"Kid, you clan, the Uzumaki, were considered the greatest fuinjutsu masters this world has ever seen," Jiraiya said. "Your mother said that it was one of her clansmen that wrote that book. She and your dad added some tips and such as they got older, something about making sure that future generations would understand the wonders of fuinjutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened as he took a closer look at the handwritten notes in the book. Gingerly he ran his hand across the worn pages trying to feel his parents' hands as they wrote in between the lines.

Jiraiya wore a small, sad smile as he watched Naruto read the old book. ' _Minato, Kushina, how I wish you both could be here in my place,_ ' Jiraiya thought. ' _Minato, you would be extremely disappointed in the village and the villagers, well those left alive after Kushina got done with them. I vow on both your memories that when Naruto gets back to the village he'll be so strong that no one will be able to touch him._ '

"Naruto, when learning fuinjutsu you will not use your **Shadow Clones** nor will you be using them to learn anything else at the same time," Jiraiya said.

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Fuinjutsu is a very serious art, one mistake when creating a seal could spell disaster," Jiraiya said. "You can't afford to be distracted by a dispelling clone. And I want you to study properly with fuinjutsu. If you were to use **Shadow Clones** , studying too many things at one time could bog you down. With fuinjutsu, you have to understand step one before moving onto step two."

"Fine," Naruto said.

"I want your word Naruto," Jiraiya commanded. "One mistake, one mis-stroke while writing a seal can kill you, and I don't want your parents to crawl out of the Shimigami's stomach and kill me because you got yourself killed because of a screw up working on a seal."

"OK Jiraiya-sensei, you have my word," Naruto vowed staring right into the eyes of his sensei.

"Good, now I'm going out to do some intelligence gathering, I'll be back later," Jiraiya said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto rolled his eyes at his sensei's antics. With practiced ease, Naruto drew out a simple security seal that would alert him if anyone tried to enter the room. After placing the seal on the door and windows, Naruto sat down on the bed and opened the fuinjutsu book.

* * *

"Heh," Jiraiya chuckled as he slipped past the security seal that his godson had placed. ' _They weren't too bad but for a ninja of my level, its too simple and easy to bypass,_ ' Jiraiya thought as he replaced Naruto's seals with ones of his own design. ' _A better way would be to tie a companion seal to the security seal. That way he could put the second seal on himself which would alert the wearer of anything happening to the other seal._ '

"You're back Jiraiya-sensei," a sleepy voice said from the bed.

"And you're awake," Jiraiya answered.

"When you grow up like I did, you learn quickly to become a light sleeper," Naruto said.

Jiraiya was glad for the darkness of the room as he normally jovial face twisted into a scowl.

"Your security seal was a smart move but still too basic for the like of me," Jiraiya said. "A seal of that level won't stop the people that will be coming after you. That will be the first thing I teach you regarding fuinjutsu, a more secure security seal."

Naruto nodded as he settled back down on the bed.

"Good night Naruto," Jiraiya said but only the light snoring of his companion answered him.

* * *

"Wake up brat!"

"Ah!" Naruto cried, grabbing a kunai from under his pillow and sat upright in bed. "Who's there?"

"Relax Naruto, it's just me," Jiraiya said.

"Oh right, sorry about that," Naruto said. "Habit I guess."

"It's ok Naruto," Jiraiya said. "Do you always sleep with a kunai under your pillow?"

Naruto nodded. "Have to keep a weapon close by, never know who will be visiting us in our sleep," he explained.

"A bit paranoid aren't you?"

"It's not paranoia if someone actually is after you."

"Touché. But enough of this depressing talk, it's time to move out," Jiraiya said. "Grab your gear and let's go. We'll grab breakfast on our way out of town."

Naruto nodded and pulled himself out of bed and went into the bathroom, leaving Jiraiya alone with his thoughts. ' _Naruto, what happened to you that you have to sleep with a kunai under your pillow?_ ' he thought. ' _Damnit sensei, you said be would be protected and able to grow up as normally as possible._ '

The Sannin was brought out of his thoughts when the water stopped running and a moment later Naruto slipped out of the bathroom, running a towel through his still damp hair.

"What?" Naruto asked noticing Jiraiya staring at him.

"Sorry, just gathering my thoughts," he said. "Now, your disguise. Catch." Jiraiya tossed Naruto a small sack, which he caught; inside the sack were several jars.

"You are going to dye your hair, cover your whiskers and put some contacts in," Jiraiya instructed. "And you'll have to lose the headband."

"What? Why?"

"It marks you as a Konoha ninja, and we need to keep a low profile since we are close to the border," Jiraiya said. "Notice how I don't wear a Konoha headband," he added pointing to the headband with the kanji for oil etched on it. "Since I am so infrequently in the village and am usually undercover, I can't wear a headband or anything with a Konoha symbol, that would give away my allegiance pretty quickly."

"I guess," Naruto said softly. He reached up and untied his headband. Naruto looked at his reflection in the hardened steel plate, he had rarely taken off Iruka's old headband since getting it over six months ago.

"Come on Naruto, we need to get moving," Jiraiya said.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto folded the fabric of the headband around the metal plate and stuffed it into his backpack.

"I know how you feel Naruto," Jiraiya said. "When I first started my journey I never wanted to take off my headband, it made me feel like I was betraying the village. But I realized that while the headband was a mark of my allegiance to Konoha, it wasn't the only one. I was loyal to the village through my actions not what I wore."

Naruto looked at his sensei and felt a wave of relief and understanding come over him. After dyeing his hair and covering his whisker marks, Naruto followed Jiraiya from their room and back out into the forest.

The pair traveled for several hours through the thick forests along the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass. Naruto quickly fell behind as his new weights were weighing him down.

"Pick up the pace Naruto," Jiraiya called back over his shoulder. "You can't be tired yet, we've only been going for a couple of hours now."

"I'm going as fast as I can," Naruto shouted.

"Well you are going to have to go faster," Jiraiya said. "At this pace, we won't reach our destination until dark and that means no training time for you. So if you want to be able to train today, you better pick it up."

Naruto felt a growl stir deep in his throat but forced his mind past the pain that was coming from his burning legs, chest and arms. With each leap, Naruto felt his muscles howl, sweat was pouring down his face and neck but he relished in the pain. He knew that he was getting stronger and that pain was only temporary. And Naruto had battled pain all his life, be it physical or emotional pain, and he would not let this pain hold him back. He would get stronger, so strong that no one would even entertain the idea of threatening him or his village. A shine of determination came over Naruto's eyes as he leapt after Jiraiya.

 **A/N 2: All right, there you have it. The first installment of my newest _Naruto_ story. As I explained at the top, it is about Naruto's journey with Jiraiya. Hope you guys like it so far, I will try and update roughly every two weeks but my new job is picking up so I might not have a lot of time. Let me know what you guys think of the first chapter, and let me know what missions you want to see in this story. Til next time,**

 **SlyNinKnight**


	2. Strength is measured in steps not leaps

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT MINE! I own nothing to do with the _Naruto_ franchise other than some copies of the anime episodes. I am just writing this story to the sensation of what was and could have been, not the mess that _Naruto_ has become. Enjoy!**

"Nicely done Naruto."

The sweaty and dirty face of Naruto Uzumaki beamed brightly underneath the film of muck and dirt that he wore. He had done it; he had finally mastered the **Swamp of the Underworld** technique that Jiraiya had all but shoved down his throat. It had taken only a month to do so but now Naruto could create a swamp large enough to sink a house. Jiraiya told Naruto that in time, as Naruto got more familiar with the technique, he could use it to sink even a summon, like Jiraiya had tried to do while on the mission to find Tsunade.

"Now that you've learned the technique properly enough to use in a fight we can move on," Jiraiya said.

"To what?" Naruto asked.

"I am going to teach you one of my personal jutsus, the **Transparent Escape Technique** ," Jiraiya said. "From what I've been told you were quite the stealth and sabotage expert when you were younger. Well this jutsu make you invisible to all except a dojutsu like the **Byakugan**. But just because you are invisible doesn't mean you can't be found. You can still be heard or smelt. You don't have to worry about any hand signs for the jutsu but it might help you to use the bird sign at first to help channel your chakra until you've progressed far enough to not need it."

Naruto nodded, eager to learn another jutsu.

"Your excitement is going to have to wait though," Jiraiya said. "We need to get moving again. There is a town about fifteen miles from here, at the base of the mountain. We'll stay there for the night."

Naruto nodded again and set about gathering his gear while Jiraiya kept on eye about. Jiraiya smiled as he watched his godson work. Naruto had come a long way since they had left the village a little over two weeks ago. He had mastered the **Swamp of the Underworld** technique in under a month; something that with Naruto's lack of an Earth chakra affinity was extremely impressive though with Naruto's training method, an excuse could be made though that Naruto was cheating. ' _Course in this lifestyle, if you aren't cheating, you'll find yourself in an early grave,_ ' Jiraiya thought. ' _And Naruto will need all the advantages he can get. Once he masters that_ **Transparency Escape** _technique, we can start working on his taijutsu. He's got great reflexes and is strong for his age and size. If I can get him started on the basics of_ **Toad Style** , _it might help him down the road._ '

"Ready to go sensei," Naruto said bringing Jiraiya from his thoughts.

"Right then, lets move out," Jiraiya grinned. "Your weights activated?"

"Yep," Naruto chirped. The weights were finally beginning to feel lighter and less demanding in the week since they had first been activated.

"Good, let's go."

Student leapt after master into the forest toward a single mountain that dominated the horizon. The pair had infiltrated the Land of Grass a week ago and had been traveling on a northwesterly heading, skirting around the signs of civilization. They had kept to the forests and off the main paths to avoid detection. And they had been lucky to avoid most of the patrols but there had been one instance where they hadn't been able to evade the Kusa patrols.

 _Flashback_

 _"Halt!" a stern, female voice called out from the treetops._

 _Naruto froze as he felt four chakra signatures pop into existence in front of him and Jiraiya. He looked at his sensei who seemed unsurprised but slightly tense. Four figures dropped down from the trees, surrounding Naruto and Jiraiya in a diamond formation. Naruto blinked at the appearance of four shinobi; the leader was obviously the woman who had called out, she had shiny black hair in a short hairstyle that reminded Naruto of his former classmate Hinata. It seemed that a genin team had caught him and Jiraiya, as the other three ninja are Naruto's age or within a couple of years. The two girls were mirror opposites of one another; one had blonde hair, much like Ino but it was short like her sensei. The other girl had dark brown hair that reached her waist and piercing green eyes that reminded Naruto of another former classmate and teammate. The only boy on the team was shaved bald and had yellow eyes that looked like they belonged on a hawk or falcon._

 _"Who are you and what business do you have in this land?" the woman asked._

 _"We are just wanderers, passing through," Jiraiya answered easily. "I am Yusuke and this is my apprentice Tobi. We are making our way through this wondrous land to reach the base of the mountain."_

 _"What for?"_

 _"To climb it of course," laughed Jiraiya. "Tobi foolishly promised his love that he would climb to the summit to prove himself to her. And I of course had to come along to make sure he completed his mission of love."_

 _Naruto tried to keep with the story by nodding rapidly. "Yeah, Sakura-chan said she would go out with me if I climbed the mountain and got back to the village but if I didn't do it, she'll never go out with me." Acting came easily to Naruto thanks to hiding his anger and hate from the villages and hiding it behind a mask of happiness and good cheer._

 _The three young shinobi looked convinced at Naruto and Jiraiya's act but the woman wasn't as easily convinced._

 _"If you are actually heading up the mountain, why aren't you taking the main paths?" she asked. "Why are you going through this forest when it would be so much easier than the way you seem to be taking."_

 _"Because if it were easy, then it wouldn't be worth it," Naruto said. "And Sakura-chan is worth it."_

 _"Very well, you may pass," the older shinobi said. "But we will be watching you, and if you stray from this path you will be arrested, detained and questioned. Understood?"_

 _"Of course shinobi-san," Jiraiya said with a bow. The woman gave Jiraiya a hard look before she signaled her team and the ninja vanished._

 _"Let's keep moving Tobi," Jiraiya said. "You don't want to let your precious blossom Sakura-chan down, don't you?"_

 _"Never!" Naruto shouted._

 _Jiraiya laughed loudly at Naruto's exuberance and the pair set off again toward the mountain._

 _Later that day, the pair reached a small roadside inn just before nightfall and found a room available to them._

 _"Are they still following us?" Naruto asked after Jiraiya had sealed the room with a barrier._

 _"No but we won't assume that will continue," Jiraiya answered him. "That was just a Kusa patrol squad but by now they'll have reported back to their village."_

 _"How were they able to sneak up on us like that?"_

 _"Kusa shinobi are world renowned for their stealth and hit and run attacks," Jiraiya said. "People fear the long grass wisely."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked._

 _"During the Third War, Kusa fought against us and they used the environment to great effect," Jiraiya explained. "One unit was called the Raptors, they wiped out nearly an entire division in their hit and run attacks in just a few weeks. Their teamwork was legendary, even by Konoha's standards._

 _"Wow," Naruto whispered. "That's really impressive."_

 _"It was, yes," Jiraiya admitted. "That is until a unit of the Uchiha Flame Dragons caught them and wiped them out. Torched over a square mile of grassland when they caught the Raptors just to make sure they were dead."_

 _"Am I really going to be the cause of a war?" Naruto asked._

 _Jiraiya looked down at his godson, he could tell that this thought had been weighing on Naruto ever since they had left the village. "Sit down Naruto," Jiraiya ordered. Naruto sat down on the bed and waited as Jiraiya gathered his thoughts._

 _"I won't lie to you Naruto," Jiraiya said. "In simplest terms, yes you will be cause for war. But you are not the only cause for it. Kumo and Iwa have been looking for reasons to come after us for years, you are just the scapegoat they are using. This has been brewing for years, before you were even born."_

 _"But still, I'm going to be the reason that my village and friends are in harms way," Naruto said, looking down at his hands. "I don't know if I can handle that. What if one of my friends are killed, it would be my fault."_

 _"No Naruto, it would not," Jiraiya said sternly. "The fault would lie with Kumo, Iwa and Oto, and especially Orochimaru. He is the one who is gaining from this; he wants to destroy the village out of some sort of twisted spite due to not being picked as Hokage. He never got over the fact that sensei picked your father over him. All the blame for this lies at Orochimaru's feet, not yours."_

 _"It's hard though," Naruto said. "I've got this legacy that everyone is going to expect me to live up too and I don't want to let everyone down."_

 _"Naruto, the only way you can let people down is if you don't try your best," Jiraiya said. "You can't do anything more than that. And don't burden yourself by trying to live up to the names of your parents, create your own name. Your mother and father didn't want you burdened by their legacies. They would have wanted you to create your own. But enough bellyaching, get working on your calligraphy, you've improved but not enough yet."_

 _Naruto huffed but pulled out his fuinjutsu book and a journal that Jiraiya had made him buy to keep his notes in. He grabbed a brush and began scribbling away._

 _"Ok Naruto, now that you've learned the **Transparency Escape** technique, it's time to get your taijutsu up to scratch," Jiraiya said. "Now your father used one style and your mother had another, and I use a totally different one."_

 _"What styles did my parents use?" Naruto asked._

 _"Well your father's style didn't really have a name," Jiraiya said, scratching his chin. "But it focused on being faster than his opponent could react, of course once he developed the **Rasengan** and the **Flying Thunder God** jutsu, he didn't need to use taijutsu as much. Your mother used a style that she learned from her home village of Uzushiogakure, I think it was called Whirlpool Fist or something like that. It was meant to overwhelm her opponent with powerful blows that would crumble any defense. She incorporated her twin blades into the style to devastating effect."_

 _"And you?"_

 _"My taijutsu style is a closely guarded secret of the Toads," Jiraiya said. "To fully utilize it, one must become a Sage. Depending on how you progress under me, I might start teaching you. But we'll first start on either your mother or father's style, what do you think?"_

 _"Since I am already using weights to up my speed and strength, I might as well start on my father's style. I'm not much of a sword user anyway," Naruto answered._

 _"Good choice," Jiraiya said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a scroll. "Your dad was a meticulous not taker and that included his fighting styles. So here you go."_

 _Naruto took the scroll and opened it. 'Wow, sensei was right, dad was a major note taker. There are diagrams, pictures and all sorts of stuff in here,' Naruto thought as he read the scroll. The style was focused on disabling the opponent as quickly as possible by targeting joints and pressure points all over the body. One could build up their muscles or fat to protect one's vital organs but you couldn't protect one's joints. A broken wrist or knee or elbow would incapacitate someone just as easily as a deep laceration._

 _"Now your **Shadow Clones** can be used to learn a taijutsu style," Jiraiya said. "While you can't get physically stronger by this method, muscle memory can be transferred. Your clones can perform the katas until they are perfect, and when the clones dispel the memories of the katas will come with. So in the morning you'll start on that practice."_

 _Naruto nodded._

 _"Good, now get some sleep, tomorrow we'll be adding to your weights," Jiraiya said wit ha grin that made Naruto shiver in fear._

 _End Flashback_

It took Naruto and Jiraiya nearly a week to reach the summit of the mountain that dominated the landscape of the Land of Grass. It was the highest peak on the continent outside of the Land of Lightning, and one that during the winter months was considered impassable.

"You've done well Naruto, learning a whole new taijutsu style," Jiraiya commented. "Only four days and you've gotten much farther than I would have thought you would. Perhaps there is hope for you yet."

"Keep talking you big perv," Naruto growled ducking under a sweeping blow from Jiraiya's **Shadow Clone**. Everyday since Naruto had started learning his father's fighting style, Jiraiya had made Naruto spar against a **Shadow Clone** of himself. Jiraiya had plenty of experience fighting against Minato while training him, so he was the perfect training partner for Naruto.

But Jiraiya was still leagues ahead of Naruto in both speed and strength, in addition to knowing the fighting style that Naruto was trying to master. And so while Naruto had come a long way, he would always lose though with each passing day Naruto would last longer and longer.

"That's enough for today," the original Jiraiya said as his **Shadow Clone** vanished in a puff of smoke. "Let's go over the jutsus you already know."

"I know the **Shadow Clone** and the **Multi Shadow Clone** jutsus, the **Rasengan** , the **Shunshin** , **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough** , **Shuriken** and **Kunai Multiplication Jutsu** , **Water Release: Water Bullet** , the **Hidden Mist Jutsu** , **Wind Release: Wind Scar Jutsu** , the **Summoning Jutsu** , **Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld** and the **Transparency Escape Jutsu** …and that's it," Naruto answered.

"Right, that's a good mix thus far but I think we need to get you started on some more defensive jutsus," Jiraiya said. "All of your jutsus are offensive except for the **Swamp of the Underworld**. Since you have such a weak Earth affinity, it will probably be for the best that you learn a water-based defensive jutsu; like the **Water Barrier** jutsu, yeah that would be a good start."

Naruto nodded in agreement, privately thinking of reviewing his grandfather's list of jutsus to see if that one was included, he was pretty sure it was.

"Unfortunately I am terrible at water jutsus so you are going to have to learn on your own," Jiraiya said. "I'm good at Earth and Fire jutsus, that's all I'm afraid."

"Why don't you teach me a defensive Earth jutsu then," Naruto suggested.

"With how long it took you to learn the last Earth jutsu, I don't think so," Jiraiya said. "Besides we need to get moving, we've strayed too close to Kusagakure. Much too close for my liking."

"How do you know we are close to the village?" Naruto asked, gathering his gear.

"I know the locations of all the major, and most of the minor, villages," Jiraiya boasted. "I am the spymaster of the most expansive spy network in the world."

"If your network is so good, why didn't you know about the invasion beforehand?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya froze in the middle of his boasting. He slowly turned and pinned Naruto with a stare that made the blonde freeze. Naruto felt a small bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck as he fought to keep still. Just as suddenly as the feeling of being gazed at by a predator came, it vanished as Jiraiya sighed and the older man's shoulders slumped.

"Not a day goes by that I don't ask myself the same question Naruto," Jiraiya answered. "I honestly have no clue how Orochimaru managed to fool my network and get his forces in place for the invasion without me finding out. There is always someone out there that is smarter than you Naruto, always remember that."

Naruto nodded, he could easily see the nugget of advice in Jiraiya's words. It was like that a lot with Jiraiya, little tidbits of advice in the man's words but one had to listen and recognize them. Jiraiya was a teacher who wasn't going to coddle his student, just hand over the keys to strength; he was going to make Naruto earn everything he achieved. And Naruto was beginning to respect the man for it. While Naruto still had his issues with Jiraiya, stemming from the man's theory that Naruto would only become strong by using the Kyubi's chakra, he respected the Sannin's strength and knowledge of all things ninja. One did not survive an encounter with Hanzo the Salamander without strength, skill and a lot of luck.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized. "I didn't mean anything by that."

"No it's all right Naruto," Jiraiya chuckled, though Naruto heard a false quality in the laugh. "That is another thing I'll need to teach you on this trip, how to manage a spy network."

"Why would I need to know how to do that?" Naruto asked.

"You are my apprentice," Jiraiya said. "And I won't always be around and I need to make sure that my network stays intact in the event of my death."

"But I don't want to manage a spy network, I want to become Hokage," Naruto argued.

"Naruto, this is going to be essential for you if you want to become Hokage," Jiraiya said. "Do you really think that sensei would have been Hokage as long as he was without knowing as much as he could? Information and intelligence is just as important as the number of jutsus you know. You have to know when to strike and when to concede, when to have a firm hand or a gentle one."

Naruto frowned but kept his mouth shut. His grandfather's journal had mentioned the need for an extensive intelligence network to protect the village from the threats within the village as well as outside it. In fact, the creation of the ANBU corps had been for this very purpose, in addition to creating an elite section of the ninja corps that would take on the missions that many would baulk at, all for the betterment of the village.

And Naruto was considered part of that select group, at least in a probationary fashion. It sent shivers up and down Naruto's spine at that thought. He had been stunned when Tsunade and the ANBU Commander, TIGER, had told him that he would be joining the elite organization. The last time someone his age was named to ANBU was a genius ninja named Itachi Uchiha, so Naruto was a little worried about how he would handle the strain, both physical and mental, of being the silent and shadowy protector of the village. But he wasn't going back down from this, he had vowed to his grandfather, both of them that he would become the protector and pillar of strength for the village, and Naruto Uzumaki did not go back on his word.

"Jiraiya-sensei, do you think that Lady Hokage had the right idea in putting me into ANBU? I mean the last time someone my age was an ANBU, he went on to massacre his entire clan."

Jiraiya sighed and turned to face his student. "I didn't agree with Tsunade's decision," he admitted. "Naruto, you are too young for ANBU in my opinion…now that isn't a knock on your abilities. You probably have the most potential of anyone I've seen since your father but putting you into ANBU is going too far. I never agreed with sensei allowing Itachi to be placed in ANBU at his age, nor did I like your father allowing Kakashi to be a member as a teenager. The things you see as an ANBU are things that only adults, and fully adjusted adults should see. You will face decisions that will make you question everything you think you know about life and death, right and wrong, and the village."

"What do you mean sensei?" Naruto asked.

"The world isn't black and white, good and evil," Jiraiya answered. "You know this better than most Naruto but it is a totally different thing hearing about something like what ANBU is about. You will be forced to make decisions that keep you up at night, make you question yourself and if the village really is the haven and paragon of good that many people believe it to be."

Naruto stared at his sensei with confused eyes. "Speaking from experience?" he asked.

Jiraiya nodded, though to Naruto it seemed like Jiraiya didn't even know he had nodded. "Come on Naruto, we've got ground to make up," the Sannin ordered before leaping off without another word. Naruto scrambled after Jiraiya with his head spinning with questions.

"All right Naruto, drop your weights and let's see how far you've come in learning your father's style," Jiraiya ordered. Naruto groaned but followed the orders. Jiraiya had taken to ordering Naruto to drop everything at a moment's notice and spar with the Sannin. While Naruto certainly didn't like the bruises and beatings he received from Jiraiya, Naruto knew that he was progressing rapidly in learning how to fight and getting stronger and faster.

"Never stop Naruto, always keep moving even if you are hit," Jiraiya ordered as his **Shadow Clone** backhanded Naruto across the face, sending the teen skidding across the ground. "If you stop moving you die."

Naruto rolled to his feet, keeping his eyes fixed on Jiraiya's clone and gathered as much chakra as he could in an instant. " **Multi Shadow Clone**!" Naruto shouted. A large cloud of smoke obscured Naruto from Jiraiya's view. When it cleared roughly twenty **Shadow Clones** of Naruto surrounded Jiraiya. The clone of the Sannin arched an eyebrow at the appearance of the clones.

"Naruto, just making twenty clones of yourself isn't going to change anything," Jiraiya scoffed. "Twenty times zero is still zero."

"I'm not done yet!" Naruto shouted as he and his clones began shimmering, as if they were fading out of existence.

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he felt Naruto's chakra began to fluctuate, up and down like a piece of driftwood bobbing on the open sea. Jiraiya's head snapped sideways as a fist came whooshing past. Spinning around, Jiraiya blocked a spinning kick from another Naruto that had been aimed at his neck. Before Jiraiya could land a blow Naruto had vanished. Jiraiya leapt above another Naruto that was trying to knock out his legs.

"Gah!" Jiraiya gasped as a knee impacted him in the back, sending him to the ground. Jiraiya used the momentum of the kick to roll forward until he sprang to his feet. Ducking under a knife hand, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's wrist and hurled him into the air. He blocked a punch from another Naruto and landed a knife hand of his own to the back of the boy's neck. Naruto's mouth fell open in a silent scream before the clone burst into a puff of smoke.

"So you've learned to utilize the **Shunshin** in conjunction with your **Shadow Clones** and combine the two techniques into a fighting style, not bad?" he commented. "But you still aren't skilled enough to challenge me boy."

"Yet," the remaining Naruto clones said in unison. The clones surged forward as one, coming from all angles. Jiraiya's clone grinned as he waited for Naruto to reach him. And he didn't have to wait long; Naruto's speed had risen very quickly in the month since leaving the village. Without his weights, Naruto was probably as fast as Rock Lee when Lee used the first two Gates, and Naruto was still getting faster with each day.

Naruto panted as he skidded to a stop about fifteen meters from Jiraiya's clone. His use of the **Shunshin** in such rapid succession was draining on his chakra reserves and didn't do his recovering muscles any favors. His body wasn't used to such rapid movements, and while pumping his chakra through his body kept much of the edge off, if he used this type of attack for too long, he would feel it later on.

Jiraiya noticed Naruto grimace as he readied himself for another attack. He could tell that Naruto was hurting, and instantly knew why. ' _Minato went through the same thing when he was developing the_ **Flying Thunder God** _all those years ago,_ ' he thought. ' _His muscles have to be screaming at him but knowing Naruto, he'll never admit that he needs to slow down._ '

"Naruto, that's enough," Jiraiya said, mentally telling his clone to dispel.

"But I can keep going!" Naruto argued.

"I'm sure you can but I also know that using that technique is hurting you," Jiraiya pointed out. Naruto frowned at what he perceived to be a thought of weakness by Jiraiya. "I'm not calling you weak Naruto, but you have to take it easy. If you try and overdue things, you'll just hurt and set yourself back instead of getting stronger. Remember why we are on this trip…"

"To get stronger," Naruto answered.

"Yes but these things take time," Jiraiya said. "There are no quick ways to getting stronger, these things take time."

"I know that!" Naruto snapped before wincing as his muscles throbbed in pain.

"Sit down foolish boy," Jiraiya sighed. "That jutsu, while inventive, is a little too advanced for your body. Your father went through the same thing while he was learning to master the **Flying Thunder God** , your body isn't developed enough to withstand that type of fast paced movement without suffering some sort of damage. Now sit down and let yourself recover."

Naruto grumbled but did as he was ordered. He groaned as he felt the warm chakra of the Kyubi flood his body and begin to heal the frayed muscles and ligaments of its host. "How long did it take my dad to learn the **Flying Thunder God**?" he asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Jiraiya admitted. "It wasn't until he started dating your mother that he really started advancing with it but all in all, I'd say it took Minato a little over four years to develop and master the jutsu."

"Four years huh," Naruto said.

"It probably would have been less but he was also coming up with the **Rasengan** and having to deal with the starting of the war," Jiraiya said.

"Lord Jiraiya?" a squeaky female voice asked.

Naruto and Jiraiya leapt to their feet, with kunai drawn but the speaker was not seen.

"Down here," the voice said. Naruto and Jiraiya looked down and saw a small white slug with a bluish-green stripe down its back.

"Katsuyu!" Jiraiya said in surprise. "What are you doing out here?"

"I have a message from Lady Tsunade," Katsuyu responded as a small scroll appeared on the slug's back. Jiraiya reached down and plucked the scroll from the slug's back.

"Thank you Katsuyu," Jiraiya said as he bit his thumb and let some of his blood drip onto the seal. The seal glowed blue before the scroll opened. Jiraiya quickly read the scroll and then burned it. "You can tell Tsunade that Naruto will take the mission."

"Of course Lord Jiraiya," Katsuyu said before vanishing in a small puff of smoke.

"What mission?" Naruto asked.

"I'll explain on the way Naruto," Jiraiya said. "We have got a lot of ground to make up if we are to reach the rendezvous point in time. Now get your ass in gear, and don't bother with your weights we can't have you slowing us down."

Naruto growled but grabbed his pack and raced after Jiraiya who had already leapt off, angling off toward the south and east.

 **A/N: And there we have it my readers, the newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Potential_. I hope you all enjoyed it, this chapter fought me all the way as it was difficult writing another training chapter but it was necessary to delve deeper into Naruto and Jiraiya's relationship as well as set up future chapters. Let me know what you all think about this chapter, and any suggestions you might have for future missions or training ideas, can't promise that your suggestions will be used but I will consider them. Til Next Time,**

 **SlyNinjaKnight**


	3. A 'Cold' Reunion

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT MINE! I am not Kishimoto, and do not own any recognizable part of the _Naruto_ universe in this fan fiction story. This story is not intended to make money but to pay homage to what _Naruto_ could have been, not what it became.**

 **Key:**

 **Jutsu Name (will be in English, aside from some easily recognizable ones i.e. Rasengan, Chidori, etc.)**

' _Thoughts_ '

"Talking"

 **Biju or Summon talking**

* * *

"Sensei, who are we waiting for?" Sakura Haruno asked, her arms crossed and her foot tapping angrily.

"Who said that we were waiting on anyone Sakura?" Kakashi Hatake answered, his face hidden behind an orange book.

"Then why haven't we gotten on the ship already?" Sakura demanded. "We are here, and so is the client!"

"Tide," Sasuke Uchiha muttered. "We are waiting on the tide to be right to set sail."

"Correct Sasuke," Kakashi said. "We are waiting on the tide to change before setting off. One would think that the number one kunoichi would know a simple tidbit about sea travel."

Sakura blushed at the chiding coming from her sensei. Only six months ago, she would have flown off the handle and possibly attacked the person who had pointed out that she was wrong but she had gained a hold over her temper, for the most part, during her time as a member of Team 7. Here she had gained acceptance for who she was and found a reason in which to get stronger. It was mostly because of one boy who most people hated, and a boy that Sakura herself thought as nothing more than an annoyance and a brat.

But Naruto had changed, and so had she. Ever sine the day that she, Naruto and Sasuke-kun had become Team 7, Sakura had begun noticing small changes in her blonde teammate. He was quieter, calmer and less prone to obnoxious outbursts that had set her off in the past. Of course he was still warm, bright, cheerful and outgoing, and still had relapses at some points but he had truly changed, and so had she.

Looking back, Sakura was disgusted with herself. She had been a fangirl of the highest degree, and a disgrace to the kunoichi name. All she cared about was looking good for Sasuke-kun, not getting stronger in order to better serve the village. But thanks to her time with Team 7 and their adventures, her viewpoint had shifted and been shown her that being a shinobi was not glamorous, nor flashy, it was dirty, filthy and dark. As a shinobi, you were forced to make decisions that kept you up at night, made you feel dirty and made you question whether or not you were doing the right thing but you still did it, taking solace in the fact that performing these missions kept your home safe and secure.

But in the beginning, Sakura was only concerned about looking good and having Sasuke rescue her. To bad Sasuke despised weakness, and Sakura learned this quite quickly. And so she took to making herself stronger, to prove to Sasuke that she wasn't just a damsel in distress that needed to be rescued all the time. As time wore on, Sakura became worthy of the top kunoichi title that she was awarded in the Academy. She would never be the juggernaut that Naruto was or the skilled powerhouse that Sasuke was but she vowed to leave her name in the history books just the same.

"So sensei, why are we waiting? If the client is so important, shouldn't we keep moving?" Sakura asked. "I know that we are waiting for the tide to come in but we've been here for two days now, so who are we waiting for?"

"Well Sakura, we are an undermanned squad," Kakashi answered, still not looking up from his book.

"So we are waiting on back up then?" Sasuke said. "Why though? We are more than enough for this mission."

"The Hokage disagrees," Kakashi said lightly. "She believes that we need a full squad to perform the mission."

"Tch," Sasuke grunted. "So who is it then? And where are they?"

"And why didn't they join us in the village?" Sakura asked. "Unless they were already on another mission, right?"

"Hmm, did you say something Sakura-chan?"

"Sensei," Sakura growled as Kakashi kept reading.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Sakura's antics before he suddenly tensed as he felt a strong chakra presence approach their position. The Uchiha heir noticed that Kakashi had also noticed by the slight drop in the book he was holding.

"What's wrong Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"I believe our back up has arrived," Kakashi said closing his book with a sharp snap.

Sakura looked around as she felt the chakra presence approach.

"Welcome…Naruto," Kakashi said.

"Yo," Naruto said as he appeared in a swirl of wind.

"Naruto!" Sakura chirped, a smile blossoming on her face at the sight of her teammate. "You're our back up?"

"I guess so," Naruto answered. "I didn't know it was our team that I would be joining. All Jiraiya told me was that I would be joining a Konoha team tasked with guarding a VIP. So, how's it going?"

"Ok I suppose, though the village has been pretty quiet since you left," Sakura said.

"So what have been learning under Lord Jiraiya?" Sasuke asked. "How much stronger are you now?"

"Not really much to be honest," Naruto admitted. "I've learned only two new techniques so far."

"Really, what ones?" Sasuke probed.

"Not telling Sasuke," Naruto chuckled. "A ninja has to have his own secrets. Not like you'll tell me the jutsus you've learned since I've been gone."

Sasuke bowed his head, acknowledging the point.

"Where is Lord Jiraiya anyway Naruto?" Sakura asked, looking around expecting the legendary ninja to appear.

"He's not coming," Naruto said. "Said that he needed to check on some rumors he had been hearing about Iwa moving troops, though I think he wanted to get rid of me cause I'm not letting him wander off to go peeking on women, or 'research' as he calls it."

The three male members of Team 7 felt a wave of icy cold wash over them as Sakura froze and turned toward Naruto, a sweet smile on her face.

"And what are you doing when Lord Jiraiya is doing his research?" she asked. "Following along perhaps?"

"Of course not Sakura-chan," Naruto answered quickly, waving his hands frantically in front of him. "Like I said, I don't want him hanging me out to dry when he's supposed to be training me."

"Good," Sakura nodded. "Cause if you became a pervert like him or Kakashi-sensei, it won't matter where you try and hide, I will find you and pummel you into the ground like a railroad spike. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sakura-chan," Naruto said feeling a bead of sweat trickle down his neck at the look in Sakura's eyes.

"Right then, since we are all here, I'll go over the mission now," Kakashi said. Team 7 instantly ceased their friendly bickering and turned to their sensei. "Our mission is to guard the film crew of the Princess Gale films while they shoot the last bit of the film. Apparently, the studio has received some threats against actress Yukie Fujikaze, so the studio hired us to protect her."

"The Princess Gale movies?" Sakura asked, her eyes wide. "You mean we get to meet Yuki Fujikaze, Hidero, Kin and Michy?"

"Perhaps," Kakashi said. "But Sakura, don't forget this is a mission not a chance to get autographs."

"I know Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

"Good," Kakashi said. "Now we will be traveling with the crew as they film. The final scenes are supposed to take place in the Land of Snow, so you all better grab some winter gear before the ship leaves."

Sasuke and Sakura glared at Kakashi before running off, he hadn't told them that they would need winter gear so they hadn't packed any. Kakashi emitted a chuckle once Sasuke and Sakura were out of earshot.

"You didn't tell them that they would need cold weather clothing, did you?" Naruto asked walking up to his genin sensei. Kakashi just gave Naruto an eye smile. "Sensei, you know about my other mission, don't you?"

Kakashi nodded. "I was told by Lady Hokage," he said. "I have to say I am quite surprised that you are being given a solo ANBU mission right off the bat. I'm not saying you are not skilled Naruto but these types of missions are a different animal. Please be careful and don't hesitate to ask for help."

Naruto nodded, feeling an upswing of warmth rise up inside him at the belief that Kakashi was showing him. "I won't let you or Lady Hokage down sensei, you can count on me."

Kakashi smiled under his mask, glad to see that his usually rambunctious student was still exuberant and lively, even after living the lonely and chilly childhood that Naruto had survived.

"So what has Lord Jiraiya taught you so far?" Kakashi asked.

"No way sensei, I'm not telling Sasuke my jutsus and I'm not telling you," Naruto said. "Nosy sensei."

Kakashi snorted as he returned to his book.

"Kakashi-sensei, why was I selected for this mission anyway?" Naruto asked. "I mean, why was this mission picked as my first ANBU mission, a solo mission to boot?"

"I honestly don't know Naruto, that's something for Lady Hokage to answer," Kakashi said. "But she wouldn't have chosen you if she wasn't sure you could handle it, so just do the mission and don't worry about why."

"I'll try sensei," Naruto said.

"Naruto! There you are! Why didn't you come with me and Sasuke-kun to the store, don't you need winter gear?" Sakura asked a moment later when she and Sasuke returned.

"Ah no Sakura-chan, I'm good," Naruto laughed. "When I first left the village, Jiraiya had me pack everything from my apartment aside from furniture, so I've already got my cold weather gear."

"Oh right," Sakura said. "Of course you would already have your stuff. Wait, how could you have packed your entire apartment in just your pack?"

"Most of it is sealed in my scrolls," Naruto said. "Sealing scrolls make packing so easy."

"Figures you would use that method considering your parents and your mother's clan," Sasuke said with a smirk. Naruto returned Sasuke's smirk with one of his own.

"Of course, I'm not going to let the Uzumaki name die that easily," said Naruto. "You know something about that don't you Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded.

Suddenly the sounds of shouting and crashing brought a halt to the moment for the members of Team 7. The three young ninja and their sensei turned and leapt clear as a brown horse charged right through where the team had been standing. On the horse was a beautiful woman with long black hair and wearing a very ornate kimono. Racing after the horse was a gang of men wearing samurai armor.

"What the!" Team 7 said.

"Kakashi?" a panting male voice asked behind Team 7.

"Ah Sandayu," Kakashi said. "Let me introduce my team now that we are all here. These are my students: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. Team, this is the man who hired us, Sandayu. He is the agent of Yukie Fujikaze." The three young ninja bowed to the older man.

"Thank you for taking this mission," Sandayu said with a sharp bow. "But I must ask you to help return Yukie to the ship."

"Wait, that woman on the horse was Yukie Fujikaze?" Sakura asked.

The older man nodded. "Yes, Yukie is a spirited woman," Sandayu said. "But when she learned that we would be filming in the Land of Snow, she suddenly began running off, we've had to hire more security just because we needed to keep track of her. I don't know why she is acting like this; Yuki has always been very passionate about her work, always meeting deadlines. But now, unless we nearly force her onto the set, she won't act."

"Why?" Naruto asked. Something was niggling in the back of his head, and it wasn't the Kyubi. Something about this mission was off.

"So you want us to track Yukie down and bring her back then, right?" Sasuke asked.

Sandayu nodded. "The tide is quickly coming in and will be out by morning," the man said. "She needs to be on that boat."

"All right team, you heard the man," Kakashi said. "Go find our wayward princess."

Just before Naruto vanished, he noticed Sandayu blanch and the feeling that something was wrong surged again within him, even stronger than before.

"Why do you think Yukie is trying to run away?" Sakura asked.

"No idea, and it really doesn't matter," Sasuke said. "We need her to complete our mission, so let's find her."

"Seems that Sasuke still hasn't lost that loveable and cuddly side," Naruto chuckled. Sakura giggled at the comment as Team 7 leapt across rooftops, quickly gaining on the fleeing actress.

"Naruto, can you create some clones and start to herd her back toward the docks?" Sasuke barked.

"On it," Naruto said, though he had to fight back the urge to tell Sasuke that he outranked the Uchiha now. But Sasuke had a smart idea. In a puff of smoke, twenty clones appeared around Naruto and Team 7, and in an instant they had raced off, spreading out and vanishing from sight.

The three young shinobi quickly overtook the samurai armor wearing security guards and gained on the horse carrying Yukie.

Sasuke drew a kunai and hurled it in front of the horse. It whizzed right over the left shoulder of Yukie. The actress yelped in fright and yanked hard on the reins, steering the horse to the right. The horse whined in pain and fright as it skidded across the paved street, its hooves trying to gain purchase on the stone. A pair of Naruto clones leapt down from the rooftops, cutting off one route. Yukie yanked back on the reins again, forcing the horse to pull up short of running over the clones.

"Yukie Fujikaze, we have been ordered to escort you back to the ship," one of the clones said.

Yukie sneered and spurred the horse forward. The clones' eyes widened as the horse reared back, the clones leapt back, barely avoiding being trampled. "Out of the way brat, I am not going to the frozen wasteland!" Yukie shouted. The horse lurched forward and burst past the two clones who shouted at her stop.

"This isn't working," Naruto said as Team 7 resumed their chase of Yukie. "Sakura-chan, can you put her in a genjutsu to get her to stop?"

"I can try," Sakura answered. "But it might not work, I haven't gotten proficient enough with genjutsu to put someone under one with them moving like this."

"Just do it," Sasuke ordered. Sakura frowned at Sasuke but began gathering her chakra.

" **Illusion: False Surroundings!** " Sakura whispered.

Yukie glanced over her shoulder, looking for her pursuers but saw nothing. Taking a deep breath, Yukie pulled back on the reins and the horse slowed to a trot.

"Finally lost those brats," Yukie muttered. "Now maybe I can get a drink."

"How about a nap?" a smug voice asked.

Yukie whirled around and come face to face with a pair of red eyes framed by black hair.

"Sleep," Sasuke said. His **Sharingan** spun and Yuki's eyes rolled up and she slid off the horse, out cold, to be caught by Naruto.

"Damnit Sasuke, couldn't you have held on for another moment so I could get into position," Naruto growled as he shifted his hold on the unconscious woman.

"Well, you should have just moved faster then," Sasuke said with a grunt.

"Enough, the both of you," Sakura snapped when she saw Naruto about to shout back at Sasuke. "Let's get back to sensei, and then you two can have your pissing contest."

"Ah, you found her then," Sandayu said happily when Team 7 returned with Yukie in tow, being carried by a pair of Naruto clones. "Excellent, it would be best if we put her in her bed below deck. Come along."

The two Naruto clones followed Sandayu onto the boat while Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura approached their sensei.

"Well done you three," Kakashi said. "Now we won't be leaving for a couple more hours so why don't you all go into town and grab some dinner? I'll stay here and watch over our runaway princess."

Sasuke and Naruto looked like they wanted to argue but Sakura had already grabbed their hands and was dragging them away before either boy could say otherwise.

"Come on you two, I want to see the sights," Sakura said.

"Ouch, Sakura-chan, ease up on the grip," Naruto whined. "We're coming."

"Well not fast enough!" Sakura barked. "We only have a few hours and we haven't seen each other in a month. So we are going to spend the day together, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Naruto muttered, wincing as Sakura's grip tightened on his wrist. He honestly thought that his bones creaked from the grip.

Sakura came to a sudden stop outside a BBQ restaurant. "This is perfect," she said. "Come on." Sakura dragged Naruto and Sasuke up to the receptionist and asked for a table, one that overlooked the harbor if possible.

"Seems that you are lucky, we have a table available," the woman said though she seemed to be looking down at the three teens with disdain. "But it might be out of your price range."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the attitude that the woman was showing them, he hated being treated like scum or less than anyone else. "Look lady, we wouldn't be asking if we couldn't afford it," Naruto snapped. He dug out his wallet, it wasn't Gama-chan, and showed the woman that they could indeed pay for the meal. The woman sniffed but stayed silent and gestured for the three teens to follow her.

The table Team 7 was shown to was near the back of the restaurant but had a magnificent view of the harbor. They could even see the ship that would take them to the Land of Snow.

"It's beautiful," Sakura said.

"Yeah it is," Naruto agreed. His view was a bit different than Sakura or Sasuke since Naruto had his back to the restaurant floor and was looking across the table at Sakura and Sasuke with the harbor in the background.

"Here are your menus," a waitress said, handing out three menus to the teens. Naruto noticed that the waitress, a young pretty woman with long dark hair and dark eyes, was blushing slightly. ' _Of course she's looking at Sasuke,_ ' Naruto thought watching with a slightly amused expression as Sasuke ignored the waitress while Sakura was trying to burn holes through the waitress' head with her glare. "I will return in a few minutes for your orders."

Naruto nodded his thanks and opened the menu up. And his eyebrows rose into his hair quickly, maybe the receptionist was right about them not being able to afford a meal here. The prices for the food were really, really high. Glancing up, Naruto saw that Sakura's menu was trembling slightly. ' _She must be thinking the same thing,_ ' Naruto thought. ' _And of course Sasuke isn't fazed by anything, must be nice having all that clan money to fall back on._ '

"Have you all decided on what you'd like?" the waitress was back. While her question was to all three teens, she was staring only at Sasuke.

"I think we'll just have a BBQ platter," Naruto answered. It was one of the cheaper options but would certainly fill the three stomachs. "And three glasses of water."

The waitress nodded though she seemed a little down that Naruto, not Sasuke, was the one who answered but took the order nonetheless. Once the waitress walked off, swaying her hips just a touch more than normal, Naruto turned back to his teammates. Sakura was frowning at him while Sasuke had a small smirk on his face.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing," Sakura huffed while Sasuke's smirk grew. "So Naruto, what is Lord Jiraiya really like?"

Naruto leaned back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling, gathering his thoughts. "He is still a major pervert Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "He's the author of the Icha-Icha series that Kakashi-sensei loves and he doesn't have a lot of shame when it comes to talking about perving on women. But Jiraiya-sensei knows what it means to be a shinobi and is teaching me a lot."

"But you won't tell us what you've learned," Sasuke pointed out.

"Nope," Naruto said. "We all have secrets Sasuke, its not like you are going to tell me the secrets of the **Sharingan** right?"

"Of course not, it's a clan secret," Sasuke said.

"Well there you go," Naruto said. " Jiraiya-sensei has been teaching me some things that he doesn't want anyone to know."

"So you must be learning a lot then," Sakura said. "How much stronger do you think you've gotten then Naruto? I mean look at how much stronger you became after that month of training before the invasion."

"I don't know exactly how much stronger I am, I mean the only person I've sparred against is Jiraiya-sensei and he wipes the floor with me all the time. What about you Sakura-chan, what have you been learning since I've been gone?"

"Well I guess I can be a good teammate and tell you, Sasuke-kun already knows what I've learned," Sakura said. "I've entered the medical shinobi program that Lady Tsunade created. She wanted to implement a policy that would have a medical ninja on each squad during the Second and Third Wars but the councils didn't go with it since it takes so long for a medical ninja to be trained. But Lady Tsunade put me, Ino and Hinata in an accelerated program to learn basic medical ninjutsu. She also made the Academy create a first aid class so that every student knows the basics."

"Wow, sounds like Lady Hokage is really taking things seriously," Naruto said.

"Of course she is Naruto!" Sakura shouted. "You shouldn't disrespect the Hokage like that."

"I wasn't disrespecting her Sakura-chan," Naruto argued. "Remember I saw Tsunade at her lowest, she didn't want the position at first, it took me nearly being killed right in front of her. So I am surprised that she is making so many changes and putting her stamp on being Hokage."

"Well then, good," Sakura said crossing her arms.

"So you have decided to become a medical ninja then?" Naruto asked.

"I haven't decided yet," Sakura admitted. "I certainly like learning how to patch you two up but I don't want to be left behind by you two."

"Don't think like that Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "You are just a capable as me and Sasuke. You are a lot smarter than both of us, and your trap making skills are awesome."

Sasuke nodded. "You have gotten stronger," he agreed. Sakura beamed at Sasuke, missing Naruto's face fall for a spilt second.

"I guess I can tell you some of what I've been learning," Naruto said. "I still won't tell you what jutsus I've learned but Jiraiya have been teaching me a new taijutsu style, my father's actually."

Both Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wow, you're learning the Fourth's own taijutsu style," Sakura said.

"Well, I don't know if you can call it really a taijutsu style," Naruto admitted scratching his chin. "It's all about being faster than your opponent and striking hard enough to disable them. I don't even think it has a name to be honest."

"So what are you going to call it then?" Sakura asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well all the previous Hokage and famous ninja have some sort of famous move, jutsu or skill that they are known for," Sakura said. "I guess you could call it a calling card; the First Hokage had his kekkei genkai, the **Mokuton** , the Second Hokage was known for having the highest water affinity in Konoha's history, he could use high-level **Water Release** jutsus even without a close water source. The Third Hokage was known as the Professor for his mastery of all non-kekkei genkai jutsus, and of course the Fourth was famous for his **Flying Thunder God Technique** and being the fastest shinobi alive. So if you want to become Hokage, you are going to need a move or jutsu that people know to be yours."

Naruto blinked at Sakura's description. "I guess you are right Sakura-chan," he said. "I'll have to think on it."

Sakura grinned and nodded.

"So what have you learned from Lady Hokage then Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Not much so far," Sakura answered. "She has been forcing all three of us to read a lot of anatomy books, she says it's to have us understand a person's body. We need to have a solid base before we start learning medical jutsu," she paused as a smug little grin bloomed on her face, "Lady Tsunade has said that with my chakra control, I am ahead of both Ino and Hinata, and that when we get back from this mission that I can start learning the **Chakra Scalpels Technique**."

"That's awesome Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "So Sasuke, what about you? What has Kakashi-sensei been teaching you?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer but stopped when the waitress reappeared with their food. "Here you are," the waitress said, again staring solely at Sasuke.

"Thank you," Sasuke grunted while Sakura glared at the young woman. The waitress ignored Sakura and gave Sasuke a flirtatious smile before walking back toward the kitchen. Naruto shook his head at the actions of his teammates, it seemed that Sakura was still chasing after Sasuke and Sasuke was ignoring her attempts. While Naruto was somewhat sad that Sakura had retained her crush on their teammate, he was also comforted by the fact that neither Sakura nor Sasuke had changed much since he had left the village.

The meat was quite good and the conversation trailed off as Team 7 ate their fill. The waitress returned twice to their table, obviously trying to chat Sasuke up but Sasuke just continued to ignore her, much to Sakura's pleasure.

"So Sasuke are you going to tell us what Kakashi has been teaching you?" Naruto asked when the table was cleared.

"He has been teaching me how to better utilize my **Sharingan** in battle and has taught me a couple more jutsus," Sasuke said. "And no, I am not going to tell you what jutsus he taught me, like you said a ninja has to have his own secrets."

Naruto rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Anything else?"

The waitress had returned and was waiting next to the table.

"No I believe that we are done," Naruto said, knowing that Sasuke wasn't going to answer. The waitress frowned but placed the check on the table and walked away. The three ninja quickly divided up the bill and left the money on the table, along with a small tip. Sakura was in favor of no tip after seeing the waitress ogle Sasuke but Naruto and Sasuke covered the tip.

"So what do you think we should expect for this mission?" Sakura asked as Team 7 made their way back toward the docks.

"What do you mean?" asked Sasuke.

"Well when you think about our previous higher ranked missions, they've all gone over our heads," Sakura explained. "Our mission to the Wave went from a simple C-rank escort to an A-rank with the appearance of Zabuza, then dealing with the invasion and Gaara."

"Oh come on Sakura-chan, those are just coincidences," Naruto laughed. "I mean, what are the odds that this mission will go the same way as those other two. And besides, those are only two missions we've had, what about all the other ones?"

"Those have all been D-rank missions," Sasuke pointed out. "Sakura is right Naruto. We should be wary that this mission could go haywire. There is something about Sandayu that is making me nervous, like he isn't telling us everything."

"Are you sure you aren't being paranoid Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked with a giggle.

"It isn't paranoia if someone is actually after you Sakura-chan," Naruto said, thinking of his own issues with the Akatsuki. "Remember what Kakashi-sensei says, always look underneath the underneath."

"Fine you two," said Sakura rolling her eyes as she did so. "Let's just get back to the ship."

Naruto slowed his walk so that he trailed his two teammates by several paces as the niggling feeling that he had felt earlier came back with a vengeance. Naruto agreed with Sasuke that there was something about Sandayu that didn't smell right, and with his own mission to complete, Naruto would have to keep his head on a swivel in order to stay alive, he wouldn't let anyone hurt his team on this mission.

 **A/N: Well there you have it, the newest installment of _Hidden Potential_. I wanted to have this chapter up two days ago, on October 10th, Naruto's birthday but real life and my job kept me from finishing it. Obviously you all can see where I am going with new arc but I'm always on the lookout for some suggestions on how to make the story better. Til next time,**

 **SlyNinjaKnight**


	4. Connections Across Generations

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT MINE! I do not own any recognizable piece of the _Naruto_ franchise, I am just writing this story for some fun and to practice my writing skills, though I don't think I could do much worse than how _Naruto_ ended. I am not making any money from this venture.**

"Oh Kami," Naruto groaned as he clutched the railing with one hand while the other was covering his mouth, trying to keep his dinner within his stomach where it belonged.

"Really Naruto, you get seasick?" asked Sakura, shaking her head. "I don't remember you ever getting sick before, ever."

"I know," Naruto moaned. "I don't know what's going either. I didn't feel sick when we went to the Land of Waves."

"Well we weren't out on the open sea on that mission," Sasuke pointed out. "This is the actual ocean, not a coast or bay like in the Land of Waves. And add in the fact that the sea is really choppy right now, and you get Naruto puking his guts out," he finished with a smirk.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious Sasuke," groaned Naruto before leaning over the railing and vomiting over the side of the ship. "How much longer until we reach the Land of Snow?" he asked after he had wiped his mouth clean.

"Not until tomorrow morning at the earliest according to Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura. Naruto groaned and leaned back over the railing, his stomach churning as much as the sea before him. Sasuke's smirk widened at the discomfort that his teammate was feeling; he had always been a tiny bit jealous that Naruto had never gotten sick in his life (though he would never admit that out loud).

"I'm going inside," said Naruto, spitting into the sea and wiping his mouth clean. Sakura and Sasuke watched their teammate walk, struggling to keep his balance, back below deck.

"What's wrong Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura as she came up beside her other teammate.

"Just a feeling I've been having ever since we took this mission," Sasuke answered, leaning on the railing and watching the ocean. "Most of our missions have ended up being ranked higher than they were presented as, and I just have this feeling that this one won't be any different. We need to be ready for anything and at 100%, especially if Naruto isn't."

Sakura nodded. "What should we do then?" she asked.

"We just have to be ready," said Sasuke. "I don't think that anything will happen until we reach the Land of Snow. The only ninja who might have an advantage attacking us on the open ocean would be ninja from the Mist village. I've read that they have a special unit in their ANBU called SHARK that specialize in fighting in open water."

"That's amazing," said Sakura. "But how do you know that? I would have thought that type of information would be kept secret for a surprise in a war or something?"

"You would think so but my clan's library has information on all the major villages and the main clans and organizations from those villages," said Sasuke with a smug smile.

"You have a clan library?"

"Of course. All major clans do," said Sasuke. "It would contain the history of the clan, the clan's secret jutsus and other secrets that a clan might deem important."

Sakura blinked. She then glanced over toward the door where Naruto had disappeared through. "Does your library have anything on the Uzumaki Clan?" she asked. Sasuke started in surprise.

"I don't know for sure," he admitted. "Why are you asking?"

"Naruto knows next to nothing about his mother's clan," Sakura said softly. "And if he is anything like you, then he would do almost anything to learn about it. When this mission is over, can you check it out? I'm sure Naruto would be greatly appreciative."

Sasuke snorted in laughter. "Now worried about Naruto, eh Sakura?" he asked.

"Yes."

Sasuke's head whipped around to look at his female teammate.

"Is that so disbelieving Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura, her hands on her hips. "Naruto is my friend and teammate, so of course I care and worry about him. I know I was a right…"

"Bitch?" Sasuke suggested with a grin.

Sakura's face turned the color of her hair. "Yes I was," she admitted. "I was a bitch to Naruto back then. I thought he was just a brat whose only purpose in life was to ruin my life. But I've changed, we all have, even you Sasuke-kun. You actually use complete sentences when talking to me. Naruto has shown me that you can't judge people by what you hear from others; only from the experiences you share with them. I made a mistake in letting my own fears of being ridiculed and treated as an outcast control me and make me ignore a possible friend. And I have a lot of making up to do before I can look Naruto straight in the eye without regret."

Sasuke didn't show it but he was quite impressed with Sakura's answer. He had seen how Sakura had treated Naruto during the Academy, how everyone had treated Naruto during the Academy. He had actually hated how Naruto had been treated; it had felt wrong to Sasuke even then. He didn't know why Naruto was treated so badly back then but Sasuke knew he had hated it. While Sasuke didn't like Naruto, the blonde was obnoxious, annoying, loud and really, really dumb, Naruto however was the only person Sasuke knew who also knew the pain of being alone.

"I will see what I can find when we return to the village," Sasuke said.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun," Sakura beamed, her face lighting up with her smile. She leapt forward and gave Sasuke a tight hug before realizing what she had done. Sasuke's face went bright red and she released Sasuke, stammering something that might have been an apology before rushing off below deck.

Sasuke blinked. "Women," he muttered before turning back to watch the heaving ocean.

* * *

"Ah!" Naruto cried as the boat was rocked by another wave and he was sent careening into the wall. "Damnit," he groaned, rubbing his elbow that had gone all tingly when it hit the doorframe.

"What the hell is going…oh its you," a woman's voice spat as the door was wrenched open. It was Yukie Fujikaze. She was wearing a set of light purple sleep clothes with a royal blue robe over it. "What the hell are you doing out here? Tramping around like an elephant, causing all this noise."

"Sorry," Naruto said. "Just lost my balance when the ship rocked."

"You are a ninja right?" Yukie asked.

"Of course I am."

"And yet you lost your balance that easily? Some ninja then are you?"

Naruto grit his teeth at the actress. He wanted to shout at this woman, tell her that he was a great ninja but Naruto kept his mouth shut knowing that if he did, he would scream and shout and would be just proving her right.

"I'll be more careful then," Naruto said. "Wouldn't want you to miss out on your beauty sleep, you'll need every minute you can get."

Yukie narrowed her eyes down at the blonde boy in front of her. "Look brat, ninja are supposed to be silent, stealthy and skilled, you aren't any of those," she sneered.

"Ninja can also be speedy," Naruto said from behind Yukie. The actress could feel the cold metal tickling her throat when she swallowed. The blonde brat had vanished right in front of her eyes and was now behind her.

Naruto removed his kunai from Yukie's throat and walked out from behind the actress. "Look I don't really care that you don't think very highly of me," Naruto said. "But me and my team were assigned this mission because Lady Hokage believed we were ready and had the ability to complete it. And we will complete this mission."

Without another word Naruto put his kunai away and walked down the hallway, leaving Yukie standing in the doorway of her cabin, a hand holding her robe closed near her throat.

"Naruto is very proud of his abilities and skills," Kakashi said. Yukie jumped at the sound of the man's voice. "He has worked very hard to gain them, and most people in our village did not treat Naruto very well while he was growing up, and still don't in some cases. But you can rest assured Princess Gale that Naruto will do all in his power to make sure you and the crew remain safe during filming of your movie."

"Of course," Yukie said as Kakashi gave her his eye-smile. "I'm just going to go back to sleep, have Sandayu wake me when we reach port."

"As you say," said Kakashi pulling his worn orange book from his hip pouch and began walking after his student, leaving Yukie standing in the doorway with a frown on her face, feeling something in her chest that she hadn't felt in many years.

"I'm pretty sure that I've already told you that threatening mission clients is not a good thing," Kakashi said as the jonin entered the cabin where he, Sasuke and Naruto slept.

"I know sensei but I needed to show her that she shouldn't underestimate me," Naruto said looking up at his sensei with steely eyes.

"Naruto, civilians are not like shinobi," Kakashi said. "They take many things at face value that shinobi can't afford too. They see a blonde shrimp and immediately think that he's just a brat playing ninja."

"Sensei," Naruto said, his head dropping to his chest.

"But what I see is a young man who has endured so much and has overcome every obstacle in his path," Kakashi said. "And because he has never given up, even when everyone thought he would, I consider that young man one of the strongest people I know."

Naruto's head shot up with his eyes wide. "Do you really mean that sensei?" he asked, his voice low.

"Of course I do," said Kakashi. "If there was one thing your father taught me besides teamwork was to have faith in the next generation, that they would surpass the previous one. And I know that you will go on and surpass everyone that came before you, including your father."

Naruto's eyes widened even more at Kakashi's claim. "Surpass my dad?" he whispered.

"Yes." Kakashi grinned at his student's disbelief. "Your father was so excited when he found out about you…and he was also terrified. But there was one thing that he believed with all his heart, that you would grow up and become one of the strongest ninja of all time."

Naruto quickly ducked his head, wiping away the tears that had sprung up in them, not wanting Kakashi to see him crying.

"Naruto, I know it is one of your biggest dreams to be acknowledged by the village," said Kakashi putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "But you have to be patient, you aren't going to change every single person's mind the first time you meet them. It will take time."

Naruto nodded. "Sensei, what were my parents like? I mean I've read about my dad in the history books but what was he like in person," he asked. "And my mom, I couldn't find anything about her anywhere except for her nickname, the Crimson Whirlwind."

Well your father was the best man I ever knew," Kakashi said putting his book away. "After my own father died, and I was put on your dad's team, he actually treated me as one of his own, all three of us, Obito, Rin and myself. I wasn't the nicest person to get along with, especially after my father died; I thought to be a true ninja meant following the rules to a tee and that the mission came before anything else. But your dad was always there for us, no matter what I did, he was always there for my team and me. Your father was kind, warm and was always willing to help someone in need but he could also be ruthless, cold and calculating especially in battle. Honestly you remind me quite a bit of him, at least how you act now that you've taken being a shinobi seriously."

"And before that?"

"Your mother," Kakashi said. "Your mother Kushina was the most hyperactive, energetic and annoying woman I've ever known. But she probably was the only person to have a bigger heart than your father, that is if you didn't get her angry." Kakashi shivered, as he felt cold for a brief moment.

"Angry?" Naruto asked.

"Oh yes Naruto, your mother's anger was the only thing that Minato-sensei feared," Kakashi said.

"He was afraid of my mom?"

"Oh yes, we all were," Kakashi said grinning. "Even the Hokage. Your mother was thought of as the second strongest kunoichi in the whole Elemental Nations behind only Lady Tsunade. It's actually pretty funny how this team came about."

"What do you mean sensei?"

"Actually we should get Sakura and Sasuke for this since this concerns them as well," said Kakashi.

"Concerns Sasuke and Sakura-chan?"

A clone of Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke and left the cabin. "Please hold off on the interrogation until the others come Naruto, I don't want to repeat myself."

Naruto frowned but didn't say anything.

"Sensei, your clone said that you wanted to talk to us?" Sakura asked as she stuck her head into the cabin.

"Yes Sakura, come on in," Kakashi said. Sakura opened the door and she walked in with Sasuke following closely behind the pinkette. Sasuke leaned against the wall while Sakura sat down on the bed next to Naruto.

"So what did you want to talk with us about sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Well it occurred to me while talking with Naruto about his parents that this team has more connections with each other than you might think," Kakashi said.

"What do you mean sensei?" Sakura asked.

"You all know that Naruto's father was my sensei." The three young ninja nodded. "But what you all might not have realized but your mothers were all on the same team when they were genin."

"Our mothers were on the same team?" asked Sakura. Sasuke had pushed off from the wall, his eyes fixed on Kakashi.

"Yes," Kakashi said simply. "I remember because it was one of the few all kunoichi teams that the Academy created and sent out into the field, mainly due to the unbalanced numbers they graduated. And they were very successful too, had a mission success rate of nearly 95%. The Three Sirens of Konoha is what they were called."

"Why didn't you tell us Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in a slightly hurt tone. "I mean, wouldn't your mom have told you about her being a ninja?"

"My mother never told me anything about her time as a ninja," Sakura answered. "She never talks about her time as a shinobi, all I do know is that she was injured during the war and had to retire."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, the Third War cost us a good many shinobi," he said. "Too many. Don't blame your mother Sakura, she was injured during a mission that cost her team their sensei and that stays with a person. Then she loses her two teammates shortly afterward in the way she did, Mebuki doesn't want to relive that past. It's something many ninja must learn to live with and struggle with even to this day."

"Wow, so our mom's were really on the same team?" Naruto asked, his gaze switching between the other three members of Team 7. "So who was the strongest between the three of them?"

"I don't know for sure," Kakashi said. "At least between your mother Naruto and Sasuke's mother. Both became jonin by the time they turned 18 and were considered borderline S-rank kunoichi buy they certainly had opposite fighting styles. Naruto, your mother was the powerhouse of the team, using her speed, strength and swords to overwhelm her opponents. Sasuke, your mother was a true genjutsu mistress. If you thought that Itachi was talented with genjutsu, well he learned from the best, your mother. Even without her **Sharingan** , she was considered the premiere genjutsu user in the village."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he tried to process this new information. He had known that his mother had been a shinobi before she had given birth to… _him_ but he had always thought that is was his father who was the strongest Uchiha aside from Itachi. But now Kakashi was telling him that it was his mother who was the one who was strong, or at least stronger than his father, that she was the one who taught Itachi all his tricks and guile.

"What about Sakura-chan's mom?" Naruto asked. "You told us about my mom and Sasuke's mom but not Sakura-chan's mom."

Kakashi looked over at his female student, as if asking for permission. Sakura nodded, her mother's time as a shinobi was a mystery to her as well and the pinkette wondered if that was why Mebuki hadn't straightened out Sakura's attitude towards being a shinobi.

"Well from what Lady Kushina told me, Sakura's mother, Mebuki, was one of the smartest people she had ever met," Kakashi said. "She said that Mebuki had to be a Nara in disguise with her ability to come up with plans and strategies. Kushina also talked about how Mebuki was very good at taijutsu and that in a straight up fight, all things being equal, Mebuki could take on either herself or Mikoto. She proved that one didn't need a kekkei genkai or special ability to become strong."

"Wow Sakura-chan, your mom sounds really strong," Naruto said. Sakura had a small smile on her face at hearing that her mother could stand alongside two famous kunoichi like Naruto and Sasuke's mothers.

"Ok guys, I think that's enough story time for today," said Kakashi. "It's getting late and we should reach the Land of Snow sometime tomorrow afternoon so I want everyone to be at full strength. We'll take two hour shifts guarding Yukie, I'll do first then Sakura followed by Sasuke and Naruto you will take the last shift."

"Right sensei," the members of Team 7 chirped.

* * *

"Wow!" Naruto gasped as he came out on deck the next morning. In the path of the ship was a massive iceberg, towering above the crow's nest.

"Where did this come from?" a member of the crew asked. "There shouldn't be any icebergs this far south at this time of the year."

Naruto's instincts immediately began shouting at him that something wasn't right. Two clones appeared besides Naruto. "Go wake Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and Sakura-chan," he ordered. "Tell them that we have a situation brewing." The two clones didn't bother answering; they just ran off toward the door that led below deck. "Is there anyway we can go around this thing?" Naruto asked a passing crewman.

"No," the crewman answered. "If we had seen it only an hour ago, even 30 minutes ago we could have adjusted course but now its too late. It's just like this iceberg appeared like magic."

"No, not magic," muttered Naruto. He then felt his two clones pop and have their memories flash through his head.

"Naruto?" the calm voice of Kakashi was heard next to Naruto. Next to the jonin were Sasuke and Sakura. "What's wrong?"

"That iceberg is what's wrong," Naruto said. "The crew were stunned to see it, they don't know how it appeared and we can't go around it without fully turning around and backtracking since we are too close to it. They say it appeared just like magic."

"There's no such thing as magic but there is something going on here," said Kakashi.

"That iceberg isn't natural," Sasuke spoke up. The team turned and saw that Sasuke had his **Sharingan** active. "It is the result of a jutsu, there is a massive amount of chakra running through the ice and I can see three people at the top of the iceberg, and all three have at least jonin-level chakra levels. They seem to be waiting for something."

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting any longer," Kakashi said raising his headband to reveal his own **Sharingan**.

"Ah the **Copy Cat** returns," a mocking voice shouted out from the summit of the iceberg. Kakashi's eyes, both normal brown and his implanted **Sharingan** , narrowed at the voice.

"Nadare Roga," Kakashi growled as three people appeared on the edge of the iceberg, level with the top deck of the ship.

"Sensei, you know these guys?" asked Naruto as Sakura and Sasuke took up flanking positions beside the blonde.

"Yes, I ran into him on a previous mission," Kakashi answered. "Be prepared, Nadare is skilled with **Water Release** jutsus, and I would guess that his comrades are similar."

"What should we do sensei?" asked Sakura, drawing a kunai from her hip pouch.

"Just be ready, ready for anything," said Kakashi. "I don't know why he's here but it can't be for anything good. What do you want Nadare?"

"Not much Kakashi," Nadare answered. "Just turn over the Princess and the Hex Crystal and maybe we'll let you leave with your lives."

"Sorry we can not do that," said Kakashi. "We have been hired to protect her and this crew while they are filming this movie. So you are going to have to move along."

"Then it seems we are at an impasse," said Nadare, sneering down at the ship. "Do you really think that you and those three brats are enough to defeat us? Have you fallen so far **Copy Cat Ninja**?" Nadare turned to his comrades, "You two take care of the brats, and I will handle Kakashi."

"Ah man, I wanted to fight the legendary **Copy Cat Ninja** not some brat playing ninja," the bigger man said.

"Enough whining and do your job!" said Nadare.

"Fine."

The larger man and the woman who had pink hair, though a paler shade than Sakura, leapt off the iceberg. The man pulled some sort of board off his back and began sliding down the iceberg while wings sprouted from the woman's back and she glided over the ship.

"Sakura, you and Sasuke handle that woman, I will take care of other one," Naruto barked as he raced to the edge of the ship and leapt over the railing to the iceberg's shelf. " **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!** " Naruto shouted as soon as his feet landed on the ice.

The large man racing down the iceberg on the snowboard easily dodged Naruto's jutsu and raised his right arm. Naruto tensed as a metallic claw suddenly shot forward, he grabbed a kunai from his hip pouch and blocked the claw. In a burst of speed, the man suddenly appeared in front of Naruto with his left hand reared back in a fist.

Naruto ducked under the man's punch and spun quickly around, his foot sweeping around behind him to clear space. But the man, Mizore, had angled his board around Naruto and began another approach. Naruto hurled a kunai at Mizore but the man just laughed as it was deflected away by a shimmering shield.

"Your pathetic attacks can't hurt me!" shouted Mizore as he raised his right arm again. "My chakra armor is impenetrable!"

Naruto dove sideways, avoiding the metal claw, and grabbing another kunai from his pouch. He channeled as much wind chakra as he could into the blade and hurled it at the speeding Mizore.

The shield sparked to life around Mizore as Naruto's kunai tried to pierce it. Naruto's eyes narrowed when he saw that the kunai seemed to stick to the shield for a spilt second before ricocheting off into the sea.

"I've already told you that won't work," Mizore boasted. "My chakra armor is impenetrable, so you might as well give up brat and hand over the princess."

"That's not going to happen," said Naruto. A clone appeared next to Naruto. The original Naruto grabbed a handful of shuriken and tossed them at Mizore. " **Shuriken Multiplication Jutsu!** " he shouted. Naruto's clone cried out its own jutsu, " **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!** "

The shuriken now numbering around fifty blitzed through the air, moving so fast that they were mere blurs to the eyes of the film crew up on deck.

Mizore laughed as the shuriken sped toward him, confident in his charka armor's ability to block the attack. But the man's laughter quickly died as he noticed that the chakra battery in his armor was quickly being drained by the constant bombardment of shuriken. Mizore breathed a sigh of relief as the shuriken barrage ended just in time. The orb on the chest plate of Mizore's armor was blinking slowly. He chanced a glance down at the orb and grew slightly worried.

"So it seems that there is a limit on the shield with that armor?" said Naruto. "The more attacks it deflects, the faster the limit is used up. Lets see how it holds up to ninjutsu then. **Wind Release: Howling Tempest!** "

A massive gust of wind erupted from Naruto's mouth and as it tore across the ice, the jutsu ripped up large gouges of ice and sent them flying into the air. Mizore watched in horror as Naruto's jutsu closed in on him. At the last possible second, Mizore felt something grab the back of his armor and yank him off his feet.

"Fubuki! What are you doing?" Mizore asked, looking up at the pink haired woman carrying him.

"We are retreating you moron," Fubuki snarled. "Kakashi was able to push Nadare back and those two brats weren't as weak as I thought. My armor's battery is nearly depleted and those kids look like they've barely broken a sweat. We need to regroup and come up with a new plan. Now shut up and let me concentrate or I am going to drop you into the ocean."

"Sensei?" Naruto asked as he landed back on the deck of the ship next to Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura.

"It's ok Naruto," said Kakashi. "They've gone, retreated for now. But I believe we need to talk with our clients about why those three are after Yukie."

Suddenly clapping erupted behind the four Konoha shinobi. Team 7 turned to see that most of the film crew was now on deck, along with their filming equipment.

"That was amazing!" the director shouted with glee. "This movie will be my masterpiece! The action will be world class, thank you shinobi. You are going to be famous, world famous!"

"Um what just happened?" Sakura asked.

"I think we just became movie stars," said Naruto.

"So what do we do now?" Sasuke asked. "Being a ninja, we are supposed to be anonymous and shadowy not movie stars."

"We will deal with that later, first I need to talk to Sandayu and Yukie," Kakashi said. "There are questions that need answering."

 **A/N: Well there you have it, the newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Potential_. This chapter was a bit of a hassle to finish but anything worth doing is worth doing right I suppose. Though I am sure that I made some mistakes. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter, please let me know what you think of it, any reasonable suggestions will be taken seriously but I can't and won't promise using them in my story. Til next time,**

 **SlyNinjaKnight**


	5. Cold Reception and Family Issues

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine, it belongs to Kishimoto, problems and all. I am just writing this story to have some fun and attempt to fix what I thought was wrong with the series.**

Team 7 and the film crew reached the Land of Snow's port the next morning without incident, something that made Kakashi uneasy. The shinobi of Konoha had talked with Sandayu immediately after driving off the three missing ninja, wanting to know what was going on and why the ninja were after Yukie.

"Yukie has many, many fans," Sandayu said. "And some of them are not the most sane of individuals, and there have been incidents in the past where these fans have tried to approach Yukie. I would guess that a fan has gone over the edge, and hired some ninja to kidnap Yukie, though I am aghast at the lengths some people will go to in order to achieve their ambitions."

"You would be surprised at what people will do to achieve their goals," Kakashi said, his visible eye cutting over to Sasuke. "Did you receive any threats before you set out? It could give us an idea on who might be behind this?"

Sandayu shook his head. "No, we did not receive any credible threats," he said.

"Thank you Sandayu," Kakashi said. "If you could give my team and I some time to discuss this situation and how we will handle things moving forward."

"Of course Kakashi-san," Sandayu said. "I will check in on Yukie and the captain."

Kakashi turned to his team when Sandayu had left the cabin. "So team, thoughts?" he asked.

"He's hiding something," Sasuke said.

"That story with the fans, while plausible, was to readily used," Naruto said. "It was like he knew he had an easy excuse to blow this attack off."

"This mission is going to turn out like the Land of Waves mission, isn't it sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded. "This is my feeling, yes Sakura," he said. "We will need to be on guard at all times from here on out. Naruto, I want you to send out a squad of clones ahead of us to give us a warning if there are more surprises ahead of us."

"Roger that sensei," Naruto said.

"Sakura, you will provide close proximity protection of Yukie along with me," Kakashi said. "I don't want Yukie out of your eyesight for any reason. Sasuke will be providing mid-range protection while Naruto and his clones will be our forward scouts. Naruto, you will also leave a clone with Sasuke and myself to make sure that we know instantly what is going on in front of us."

Naruto nodded.

"You know more than you are telling us, aren't you sensei?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi looked each of his students in the eye.

"Yes Sasuke, I do know more," Kakashi said. "Those three ninja we fought, I've seen them before."

"When?" Sakura asked.

"A little over ten years ago," Kakashi said. "When I was still in ANBU, Lord Hokage got word that there was unrest in the royal family of the Land of Snow. I was sent to protect the Daimyo's family, which was only the Daimyo and his daughter at that time. But I was only there two weeks before the coup happened and the Daimyo was overthrown. The Daimyo was killed in the fighting and but I escaped with the Daimyo's daughter."

"What happened to the daughter?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi said. "All I do know is that Lord Third sent the girl away, somewhere safe."

"Why would the ninja that helped perpetrate a coup a decade ago still be here?" Naruto asked. "And why are they coming after a movie actress?"

"Again I don't know," Kakashi said. "The actions of Nadare and his comrades were very interesting. They wanted Yukie, not just stopping the ship or crew from reaching the Land of Snow. If they were sent to stop us from reaching the shore, they would have just sunk the ship and all of us with it but they didn't. They were demanding we hand over Yukie only, so what for?"

"Sensei, should we continue the mission though?" Sakura asked. "I mean, we went through this sort of thing back in the Land of Waves, and we got lucky that you were able to beat Zabuza and that Gato was going to betray Zabuza and Haku in the end, or things could have been so much worse. We can't be sure that we will be so lucky again here."

"You raise a good point Sakura but we can't abandon the mission," Kakashi said. "This is a high-profile mission with a high-profile client, and one who could make things very difficult for the village. If word were to get out that we abandoned a mission, clients wouldn't send their missions to Konoha, even if we were to say that our client lied about the mission. Civilians don't care if they lie about the mission; they expect ninja to be able to perform. It's not fair to shinobi but that's life."

The three young shinobi frowned at their sensei's words but they knew that he was right. And Naruto knew that even if his team had decided to abandon the mission, he couldn't. Now with his future career riding on this mission, and it was also a point of personal pride to complete the mission even if he had to go on alone. Naruto vowed he wouldn't go back on his word.

"Now with the addition of these ninja, this mission will be upgraded to a high-A rank mission, possibly even pushing the S-rank barrier," Kakashi said. "So you will release any weights or restrictions you have your abilities now, and you will not put them on again until the mission is over, is that understood?"

"Yes sir,' the three teens barked. They quickly deactivated the weight and/or restrictor seals they wore, well Naruto kept one active unbeknownst to the other members of the team. It was a restrictor seal that Jiraiya had placed on him at the beginning of their journey. It restricted Naruto's chakra capacity by about 25% meaning Naruto only had ready access to 75% of his chakra. Now Naruto had control over the seal and could raise or lower the percentage of chakra he could access but he usually kept it at 25% restriction as it helped Naruto's chakra control and lowered his chakra signature to make it harder for other ninja to find him. It was a seal that Naruto's great-grandfather had developed when he had created the ANBU, among many others. It allowed those with large chakra signatures to hide them more easily than condensing their chakra.

"Good, now you three have your duties so let us go tell Sandayu the good news and continue the mission," Kakashi said. The three young ninja nodded and followed Kakashi out of the cabin.

"Ah Kakashi-san, have you made your decision?" Sandayu asked. Naruto could tell that the older man was trying to hide the fact that he was terrified that Team 7 would leave, as was their right after being lied too and not given the correct mission intel.

"We have Sandayu-san, we will continue the mission to protect Yukie and the film crew until they have completed filming," Kakashi said.

"That's wonderful," Sandayu exclaimed.

"However, you will have to explain to our Hokage why you did not inform her of the threats you have been receiving," Kakashi finished. Sandayu paled and frantically raised his hands to keep his glasses from falling off his nose.

"Of course, I shall write a letter this evening," Sandayu said.

"Excellent, now what is our next move?"

"The director wants to begin moving into the mountains, it's where the next series of scenes are supposed to be shot," Sandayu said.

"Do you have a map of our shooting locations?" Kakashi asked. "I'd like to scout ahead to make sure there are no more surprises."

"Yes, let me get one from the director," Sandayu said quickly, making his way over to the director's trailer. He returned a few moments later.

"Excellent, this will help us greatly," Kakashi said. He turned to his team. "All right you three memorize the map."

The three young ninja quickly studied and memorized the map before returning it to Kakashi.

"Good, now you all know your jobs, and we'll be moving out in an hour or so, so Naruto you better get moving."

Naruto nodded to his sensei and created four **Shadow Clones**. Two stuck with Kakashi and Sakura, while the other two went over to Sasuke.

"Be careful Naruto," Sakura said.

"Hey, it's me," Naruto replied with a grin before dashing off into the snowy forest, not hearing Sakura's own response, "I know and that's why I said it."

"Relax Sakura, this is Naruto we are talking about," Sasuke said. "No matter what trouble he gets into, Naruto always finds a way to come out on top."

Kakashi watched with a hidden smile at his two students. ' _Sasuke truly has come a long way,_ ' he thought. ' _Just a couple of months ago, he would never comfort Sakura like that; Sasuke would have just complained that she was being weak. Heck, even Sakura wouldn't have been caught dead worrying over Naruto._ '

"All right that's enough Sasuke, you're up," Kakashi said. Sasuke nodded but before he too could leave, Sakura threw her arms around Sasuke's waist, hugging him.

"Be careful Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispered, her face in Sasuke's back.

"I'll be fine Sakura, now let me go," Sasuke said, peeling Sakura's arms from around his body. Sakura blushed heavily and stepped back. Kakashi hid another smile as Sasuke leapt off to set up the team's second line of defense, Naruto's two clones following him.

"Come on Sakura, let's get ourselves ready as well," Kakashi ordered.

"Yes sensei," Sakura said, heading to her own cabin to gather her gear.

* * *

Several miles ahead a blonde teenager was leaping through a snowy forest. Naruto had created several dozen **Shadow Clones** and had them spread out around him to scout the forest ahead of the caravan. So far Naruto or his clones had found nothing. The road was clear.

' _Man, this is so boring,_ ' Naruto thought as he leapt from branch to branch. ' _After those ninja attacked us, I thought they would attack us again. I mean, why not set an ambush for us at the port? And if their target is Yukie, why wouldn't they just wipe us all out and pick her from the wreckage? Something doesn't seem right with all this._ '

"Hey boss," a clone said from Naruto's left. Naruto turned to the clone.

"What's up?"

"We might have found something," the clone said.

"Where?"

"This way."

Naruto created a new clone and told it to have the others hold their positions before dispelling it in order to have the remaining clones get the message. "Lead the way," Naruto told the clone. It nodded and the two leapt off toward a very foreboding looking mountain that the road moved toward.

"Whoa," Naruto said, gazing at the large hole dug out of the mountain. "What did this?"

"No clue," the clone said. "A jutsu maybe?"

"It would have to be some jutsu to do all this."

Naruto and his clone made their way deeper into the tunnel.

"What's this under the ice?" the clone asked. "They don't look like rocks or earth."

Naruto knelt down next to the clone and looked closely in the layer of ice on the floor. Beneath it, there were two lines of what looked like metal running underneath at least three inches of ice.

"They look like railroad tracks," the clone commented.

"Railroad tracks?"

"Yeah, remember the info packet that Ero-sennin gave us," the clone said. "The one that Lady Hokage sent with our mission packet, it said that the Land of Snow has all this advanced technology, and not just their chakra armor suits. They have these things called trains, it allows people and materials to be moved across an entire country in just one day."

"Oh right," Naruto said as the memory came back to him. "But why would these tracks be under several inches of ice?"

"No clue but the only thing I can think of is that these tracks are meant to be hidden," the clone said. "And this tunnel comes out onto a cliff that overlooks where the film crew's route goes by, it's the perfect place for an ambush."

Naruto nodded. "I think we need to let Kakashi know about this, I don't remember these tracks being on the map Sandayu showed us," he said. Naruto's clone nodded before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Naruto dimly felt the clone's memories assimilate into his own head, the process now so familiar to him that Naruto barely blinked an eye at it.

Naruto reached into equipment pouch and pulled out a small scroll. He quickly opened it and unsealed its contents, which was several stacks of explosive tags. However these weren't the standard explosive notes that most ninja brought from a supply store, these were Naruto's own creation and filled with his own chakra. He and Jiraiya had tested the tags and they found out that when charged with Naruto's chakra, the tags were several times more powerful than a standard tag. Jiraiya theorized that it was due to the chakra used to charge the tag. The Toad Sage told Naruto that the Uzumaki had been known for their copious amounts of chakra, and the unique properties that many members of the clan chakra had.

Naruto quickly created six clones and had them line both entrances of the tunnel with explosive tags. He and his clones had just finished when the memories of a scout clone burst in his head. There was something coming around the mountain, and moving very quickly. Naruto knew that the clones he had left with Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi were informing them about the possible threat.

Naruto dispelled the clones nearby and raced out of the tunnel. He quickly activated the **Transparent Escape Jutsu** and hid behind a large boulder just outside the tunnel. Naruto could hear a loud rumbling echoing down the tunnel, it was so loud that his teeth were vibrating in his mouth. Then out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted the caravan doming to a half at the base of the mountain.

' _What are they doing?_ ' Naruto thought in disbelief. ' _They need to keep moving!_ '

Suddenly a massive train came roaring out of the tunnel. Naruto had never seen anything like it; the train was the size of Manda, Orochimaru's snake summon. The train took up nearly the entire tunnel; Naruto didn't think he could slip into the tunnel without having to strip down to his underwear and suck in his gut.

With a low hiss, the train came to a stop in front of Naruto, blocking his view of the caravan below him. Naruto was about to move to another spot when he heard a deep voice boom out from the train.

"Hello there Yukie, or should I say Koyuki," the voice said. At the top of the train, a tall, well built man with shoulder-length black hair wearing a high-collared white robe. "Welcome home."

Naruto edged his way out of his hiding place to the front of the train. Below he could see the caravan, with his teammates and Kakashi in front. Behind Kakashi was Yukie, who even from Naruto's far-off vantage point looked like she was about to faint. Naruto could also see that Yukie was clutching at her throat.

"I know you have the Hex Crystal Koyuki, hand it over," the man demanded.

Naruto saw Kakashi turn back to ward Yukie before another voice shouted from behind Naruto and the train.

"Doto Kazahana!"

It was Sandayu. He was standing on a ridge that overlooked the train and the caravan. With him were close to fifty men, all wielding weapons, mostly swords and spears, and wore crude or beat up samurai armor.

"You murdered out Lord and Daimyo, Sosetsu Kazahana," Sandayu shouted. "And we have come to avenge him and restore the rightful heir to the Land of Snow's throne!"

A great rumbling came from the top of the mountain. Over a dozen large tree trunks were crashing down the mountainside, creating a small avalanche in their wake.

' _Shit!_ ' Naruto cried mentally as he dashed away from his hiding spot and dove over the train just as the trees and avalanche slammed into it.

There was a great creaking sound that came from the train as several doors along the train's length opened and from the cars, several machines were wheeled out into the snow. They looked like square lockers stacked on top of one another. Two ninja were with each boxy machine and stood on each side next to a large crank wheel.

"Do it," Doto ordered. The ninja began turning the crank wheels. With a loud twang, dozens of kunai shot from the box, faster than all but the strongest ninja could throw, speeding toward the charging men.

Naruto could only watch in horror as the kunai tore through the armor and men like wet tissue paper. The snow ran red as the lifeblood of the men drained away. In the middle of the brutal massacre was Sandayu, Naruto could see at least three kunai sticking out of the older man's body: one had punched through his torso armor, another in his left shoulder and the third had found flesh between Sandayu's thigh armor and knee. A cold wave of rage washed over Naruto at the sight and sound of Doto laughing. The blonde could feel the Kyubi begin stir in his stomach, attempting to add its own rage and bloodlust to Naruto's own.

' _No!_ ' Naruto snarled, forcing back the Kyubi's chakra that was beginning to leak from the seal. ' _You will not control me!_ '

Naruto turned back to the fight when he felt the fox's chakra recede back into the seal. The three ninja that had attacked the ship the day before had gone after Naruto's team, and the other Snow ninja were picking off the survivors of Sandayu's group.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " Naruto growled. A dozen clones appeared around Naruto, and with a tight nod, the original sent his doppelgangers after the Snow ninja attempting to finish off the rebels. Naruto then turned his attention on Doto, who was still staring down at Yukie with a cold smile. He drew a kunai and began making his way toward Doto.

"You need to work on your stealth if you think you can sneak up on me boy," Doto said darkly. The tall man slowly turned around and stared down at Naruto. Naruto returned the man's stare with a hard one of his own. "You can not believe that a mere boy can defeat me. I am the strongest ninja in this entire country."

Naruto kept silent as he released a deep breath. When Doto had turned around, Naruto spotted that Doto was wearing some sort of dark clothing under his white robe. Not taking any chances, Naruto charged his kunai with wind chakra and in one smooth motion; he hurled it at Doto's chest.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as his kunai bounced off a shimmering shield that popped up in front of Doto. The man laughed down at Naruto before tearing off his white robe. Underneath the robe was a set of chakra armor but this set looked much more streamlined than the sets that the Snow ninja wore.

"My chakra armor is more advanced than those other suits you have seen boy," Doto boasted. "If you can't defeat my ninjas' armor then you have no chance of defeating me."

"Let's see then," Naruto said. With a single hand sign, five clones appeared around Naruto and together they charged at Doto. Laughing contemptuously, Doto casually swatted aside Naruto's five clones and leapt off the train. He landed lightly on the snow and spun easily around Naruto's punch.

Naruto ducked under Doto's retaliatory punch, feeling his hair ruffle from the blow. He tried to sweep Doto's legs out from under him but the Daimyo easily leapt over Naruto's legs and snapped off a kick of his own. Naruto raised his arms to defend himself but was still sent flying backward from the kick's force.

"Gah!" Naruto cried as the back of his head slammed into the wall of one of the train cars. Instincts screaming at him to move, Naruto forced his body to move and just in time as Doto's fist was buried into the wood right where Naruto's head had been. Naruto slipped a kunai into his hand and slashed wildly at Doto. The tall man laughed as the chakra armor's shield easily deflected Naruto's attack. Doto spun around and landed another spinning kick but this one, Naruto was unable to raise a guard in time.

Doto chuckled darkly as the blonde brat came to a stop thirty feet away, slamming into the wall of the cliff. ' _Pathetic,_ ' the Daimyo thought. ' _These brats are nothing to me. Perhaps I overestimated Nadare's assessment of their strength._ '

With a low groan, Naruto sat himself up against the ice wall that he had slammed in too. ' _ **Get up meatbag!**_ ' the voice of the Kyubi roared in Naruto's ears. Without conscious thought Naruto's hands flew through the hand signs for **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough**.

Doto grunted as the wind jutsu slammed into his armor's shield. It held but Doto was still surprised at the force the brat was able to cast his jutsu at, being able to stop his advance. "Give up brat," Doto growled. "You can't beat me, perhaps if you would like to live, you'll be smart and join me. Join me and I can promise you riches, power, anything you want, as long as you vow to serve me loyally."

"Sorry but I've already given my loyalty to someone else," Naruto said. "And it isn't for sale."

"Tch, naïve child," Doto sneered. "It seems that you have yet to see what this world is truly like. I suppose I shall have to teach you this lesson."

Naruto slowly got to his feet, bracing himself against the wall. "I've never been the best student," he said. Naruto surged forward. Doto was surprised at Naruto's speed but was confident in his chakra armor and the protection it offered.

"You will not be able to defeat me boy," Doto laughed as he easily blocked Naruto's kick. Naruto grit his teeth as Doto grabbed his leg and hurled him toward the cliff wall. Naruto was just able to orient himself and put his feet against the cliff wall instead of slamming into the wall.

"Let's try this then," Naruto growled as he hung on the cliff wall. In an instant, a **Rasengan** swirled into existence in Naruto's hand and he pushed off the wall, flying at Doto. The despot Daimyo was intrigued at the jutsu that the blonde brat held but remained confident in his armor's shielding ability.

"Take this!" Naruto shouted, slamming the **Rasengan** into the shield protecting Doto. The grinding action of Naruto's chakra battled against the chakra shield produced by Doto's armor, giving off a ton of sparks.

"Enough!" Doto roared, sending a surge of chakra through his armor that increased the shield. Naruto was thrown backward and the **Rasengan** sputtered and vanished. Naruto noticed that Doto's armor was smoking slightly and giving off sparks, and that the light blue orb in the chest plate of the armor had a small crack in it. "I do not have time to deal with you, annoyance," Doto snarled. " **Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard!** "

Two tornados of ice rose around Doto and the tornados took on the appearance of dragons, and the dragons looked down at Naruto with glowing yellow eyes.

"Shit," Naruto groaned as the twin dragons screamed and dove toward Naruto. The blonde leapt over the train, avoiding one of the dragons and activated the explosive tags that he had placed inside the tunnel. Two explosions rocked the mountainside bringing an abrupt stop to the ongoing battles. The tunnel collapsed, wrecking the train tracks and the end of the train that was still inside the tunnel.

Naruto's grin at destroying the tunnel was quickly wiped away when the second ice dragon came screaming over the train's wreckage and pounced on Naruto. Groaning, Naruto forced his way out of the snow pile in time to hear a high-pitched scream. Looking up, Naruto's jaw dropped as a massive balloon was rising out one of the undamaged train cars.

A high-pitched scream made Naruto turn his attention away from the balloon. Yukie was flying through the air, a cable of some sort wrapped around her waist. At the other end was Doto, standing on the balcony of the train car that was attached to the balloon.

"Come on Naruto!" Sasuke's shout pulled Naruto from his shock in time to see Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi leap over the train wreckage and run after the balloon.

"What happened?" Naruto asked when he caught up with his team.

"No clue," Sakura said. "All of a sudden, Yukie was being pulled away into the sky and onto that blimp. Why would Doto want Yukie?"

"No idea," Naruto said. "He must think she is somebody else or he knows something we don't. Kakashi-sensei?"

The three teens looked at their sensei, who had been silent while the other three conversed. "Team, I think we need to assume that Yukie is actually Koyuki," Kakashi said. "During the coup, I learned that Doto believed that the previous Daimyo had stashed a large amount of treasure somewhere, and that was the major reason Doto overthrew his brother."

"Well, where would Doto be taking Yukie then?" Sakura asked Kakashi. "There is no way we'll be able to keep up with that blimp especially on foot."

"If I am a power hungry dictator who just captured the person who possibly holds the key for me finding a great treasure, I am definitely going back to my base to 'interrogate' Yukie to find out if she does have the key," Naruto said. The others turned to look at Naruto. "What, isn't that how these things go? The bad guy heads back to his stronghold to gloat and the good guys then swoop in at the last moment to rescue the damsel in distress."

"You've been reading too many comic books, haven't you Naruto?" Sakura asked.

Naruto chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, Ero-sennin has been having me read rough drafts of his pervy books."

"What?" Sakura growled. "You've read that filth!"

"Of course not Sakura-chan," Naruto answered quickly. "Just his first drafts, they don't even have any of the smut in them yet. Ero-sennin told me that he doesn't add in the smut until the plot and characters have been worked out properly!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Naruto before huffing and turning back to watch the blimp continue to drift farther and farther away from Team 7.

"So Naruto, any clues you could give a fan of what to expect in Lord Jiraiya's next masterpiece?" Kakashi asked.

"No sensei, like I said, all I've read has been the bare bones of his plot and ideas," Naruto said. He wasn't going to admit to the others that Jiraiya was actually a decent writer, and that if he took out the smut, Naruto wouldn't mind reading Jiraiya's books.

"So sensei, where is Doto's stronghold?" Sasuke asked. "Because, it pains me to admit this, Naruto's idea has some merit. And we are about to lose the blimp."

"If I remember correctly, the Daimyo's palace is deep in the mountains about a half day's travel from here," Kakashi said. "Naruto, are any of your scout clones still operational?"

"I don't actually know sensei," Naruto admitted. "I think that most of them popped when the fighting started. But let me try something. **Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " A single clone appeared next to Naruto. "Go ahead." The clone nodded before dispelling.

"What was the point of summoning a single clone to have it dispel so quickly?" Sasuke asked.

"It is the only way I can tell my other clones to report in, if there are any left," Naruto explained. "They should summon a new clone and have it dispel to let me get the mem…" Naruto paused as the memories of two clones flashed through his head. "Looks like I have two clones still around ahead of us," he said. "They are following the blimp and will mark a trail for us to follow."

"Excellent," Kakashi said. "Let's just hope they won't run out of chakra before the blimp lands."

"As long as they don't have to use jutsus, they should be good," Naruto said.

 **A/N: There you have it, the newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Potential_** _._ **This chapter really fought me, which is why the update was delayed for a week or so. I wanted to make it easy to read and still flow with the rest of the story, and hopefully I've accomplished that. Let me know what you all think, any critiques and suggestions are welcome, til next time**

 **SlyNinjaKnight**


	6. Ending A Threat or Beginning of One

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine! I do not own any recognizable piece of the _Naruto_ franchise aside from some iTunes episodes. I am making no money in this venture, just valuable experience in writing.**

 **Key:**

"Talking"

' _Thoughts_ '

' ** _Biju thoughts/talking_** '

 **Jutsu Name**

"Just like in the movies or comics," Naruto said as he and Team 7 looked down at the Daimyo's place. It looked more like a manufacturing factory than the palace of a ruling family. "I told you…"

"Yes Naruto, we get it. You were right," Sakura hissed. "You don't have to keep reminding us. So shut up."

Sasuke and Kakashi both wore exasperated expressions at the antics of their two louder teammates. Team 7 had followed the clues that Naruto's scout clones left behind to the palace, and had been watching the palace for several hours. They knew that Doto had taken Yukie or Koyuki to the palace, again thanks to Naruto's clones but they had no clue where the power-hungry Daimyo had taken Yukie once inside.

"So what do we do now sensei?" Sakura asked.

"We need to find out where Doto is holding Koyuki," Kakashi said. "Once we find Koyuki we will handle Doto and the others. Naruto, I need you to get inside the palace and find out where Koyuki is behind held and then report back to us. Once you have found Koyuki, create a distraction for us to get inside and then meet up with us."

"Roger sensei," Naruto said. He pulled some clothes out of his pack and ducked behind a tree to change. When he returned, Naruto was wearing black ANBU pants, black sandals and a black hoodie with dark gray arm and shin guards. "What do you think?" Naruto asked.

"Very…black," Sasuke said, somewhat shocked at Naruto's outfit. Sure Naruto had changed his clothes before the Chunin Exams, but it was still a shock to see Naruto in all black.

Sakura looked away from Naruto without saying anything. The all-black of Naruto's outfit made his blue eyes stand out even more than usual, drawing in anyone's gaze.

"And the finishing touch," Naruto said, pulling up a facemask that covered the lower half of his face just like Kakashi.

"Very nice," Kakashi said. "Now get moving. The longer we wait, the less chance we have of finding Koyuki and getting out of here."

Naruto nodded and vanished into the night. Sasuke and Sakura both shook their heads at the stealth skills that Naruto possessed, it was still slightly amazing to them that their teammate who was so loud and wore such bright colors could be so good at stealth and hiding. Sasuke had talked with Naruto before the blonde had left on his trip with Jiraiya for tips on stealth, and the Uchiha's abilities in stealth had risen quite a bit using Naruto's tips.

* * *

Naruto quickly made his way to the base of the palace, sticking to the growing shadows of the mountain, trees and the palace itself. It had been very, very easy, as Naruto didn't run into any patrols of ninja or soldiers around the palace. At the base of the palace, Naruto found his entry point, a sewer drainage hatch.

"Well this is easy," Naruto muttered as he drew one of his specialty kunai that Jiraiya had gotten him. They were from a blacksmith in the Land of Iron, a friend of Jiraiya, and were made of chakra-conducting metal and bathed in a non-reflective coating. It had cost Jiraiya quite a bit to have the dozen kunai made as true chakra-conducting metal was very rare and the non-reflective coating was a creation of Jiraiya's blacksmith friend, so getting him to part with the kunai wasn't easy. Now, most metals could have chakra channel through it but it depended on the purity of the metal and the type of metal, not as well as others.

Naruto's kunai easily cut through the simple padlock that locked the grate in place and Naruto slipped inside. A **Shadow Clone** appeared next to Naruto. "Stay here and keep this route open," he ordered. The clone nodded and slid into the shadows, becoming invisible to anyone outside the grate. The original Naruto turned back to the depths of the tunnel, his nose and stomach rebelling at the stench.

"The things I do for my village," Naruto said as he waded his way through the sewage. He could have walked along the sides of the pipes or even on top of the water but one of the first things that Jiraiya taught him about infiltration was that less is more. The more chakra one uses, the greater the chance of being found out. Naruto also tightened the restrictor seal he wore to 75%, leaving him with only 25% of his normal chakra capacity. He still had roughly ¾ of a jonin's chakra capacity, so he wasn't truly limited on chakra but Naruto had to be careful. Just using a single **Shadow Clone** used up about a quarter of Naruto's chakra though it was replenishing quickly.

Naruto sloughed his way through the sewage pipe for what felt like hours until he reached a maintenance ladder. He slowly began climbing out of the sludge and up the ladder. As he got nearer to the top of the ladder, Naruto heard muted voices from above him. He slowed his climb as the voices got louder and louder.

"Why hasn't Lord Doto just killed the bitch already?" a deep voice asked. "We don't need her anymore, don't we?"

"I don't know," a second voice answered. "But it isn't our job to question Lord Doto, just to follow his orders."

"Then I better get a chance for some alone time with the Princess then," the first man said. Naruto's eyes turned icy cold at the man's insinuation. He quickly found out where the voices were coming from, above him. It was a large bathroom/locker room. Reaching out with his fledging sensing abilities, Naruto felt the presence of four people in the bathroom above him. Naruto quietly pushed open the grate and slipped into the locker room unseen. He heard a shower end in the other part of the room and quickly used the **Transparent Escape Jutsu** to hide in the corner of the locker room.

A tall man with short black hair came out of the bathroom with a thick towel wrapped around his waist. Naruto watched patiently as the man approached his locker at the opposite end of the room from Naruto.

"Hey Kato, how much longer until we are supposed to be on duty?"

"30 minutes Takahashi," Kato answered. "So you better get your ass out here, the captain hates it when someone turns up late."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," the second voice said. This man was shorter and stockier than Kato with graying long hair tied back in a ponytail and a thin brown mustache.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Takahashi; he recognized the man's voice as the one who had made the crude comments about Koyuki. Naruto watched the two men dress and followed them out of the locker room, sticking to the shadows even with his **Transparent Escape Jutsu** active. The two guards made their way down several flights of stairs and then down a dimly lit corridor that ended on a ledge that looked over a large divide. Several bridges crossed the ravine at different levels and Naruto could see cells lining the walls of the ravine.

Seven levels below where Naruto was hiding, the blonde spotted two guards standing outside a cell. Naruto crawled down four levels to get a better view of the cell, and saw that Koyuki occupied the cell. Kato and Takahashi took up positions outside the cell, and Takahashi turned to look into the cell. Naruto couldn't hear what Takahashi said to Koyuki but the face of Takahashi told Naruto that the conversation wasn't very polite.

Naruto retreated into a shadowy ledge that looked over the prison cells, and paused to think over his two mission objectives: to rescue Koyuki and to recover the blueprints of the Land of Snow's chakra armor. Naruto was still thinking over what he should do first. On the surface, it would be most likely easiest to find the blueprints first then get Koyuki but Naruto knew that Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for his signal to infiltrate the palace. The distraction was already set, several dozen explosive tags were affixed to the drainage pipes and heating ducts throughout the bowels of the palace.

But Naruto was sure that it would become much more difficult to get the blueprints after rescuing Koyuki. Doto's guards would be scrambling all over the palace once they discovered the princess was missing and finding the blueprints would be almost impossible.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu** ," Naruto whispered. A single clone appeared next to Naruto without the customary puff of smoke. Jiraiya had Naruto work on his signature jutsu so much that he could now summon clones without any smoke. "Go find the blueprints and make sure they are secure before dispelling yourself."

The clone nodded before fading back into the shadows of the ledge. Naruto turned back to the prison below and saw that Kato and Takahashi were still standing guard outside Koyuki's cell. Time crept on, the second and minutes slowly ticking by as Naruto waited. He wanted to give his clone as much time as he could to find the blueprints. But after an hour of waiting, Naruto decided he had waited long enough.

Naruto took a deep breath and readied himself for the stunt that he was about to pull. He was sure that Sakura would smack him for this but she wouldn't find out if he pulled it off. Pulling the spring-loaded grappling hook from his pouch, Naruto threaded the wire through the hook and started twirling it. With a soft grunt, Naruto released the hook and watched as it flew through the air and landed on the walkway two stories above him.

"What was that noise?" Naruto heard Kato ask.

"Relax, someone probably just dropped something," Takahashi answered.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the wire taunt, feeling it catch as securely as possible. He wound the cord around his hand, trusting that his gloves would provide enough protection for his hands.

"Here it goes," Naruto whispered. He took a running start and leapt from his hiding spot. The free fall was both exhilarating and terrifying for Naruto. He dropped at least two stories or levels before crossing beneath the walkway he was secured too. But both Kato and Takahashi seemed oblivious to his approach as they were squabbling to themselves about something that Naruto didn't hear over the rushing wind. As Naruto approached the opposite wall he stuck his feet out to both brace himself and to stick to the wall. He knew he would have to time things absolutely perfectly or he would bounce off and most likely be seen or heard.

Naruto grit his teeth to keep from crying out in pain as his legs slammed into the wall. For one heart wrenching second, Naruto though that his chakra wouldn't hold and he would be sent flying back across the chasm but his feet stuck to the wall like glue. After making sure his footing was secure, Naruto sent a small charge of chakra through his wire and hook. The hook jumped slightly and closed up, and with a quick tug Naruto was quietly reeling the tool back in. Once it had been stowed away, Naruto began the disorienting climb down the wall toward the cell holding Koyuki.

Naruto laid himself flat on the catwalk above Koyuki's cell and crawled to the edge of the catwalk. He could just make out the shadows of the two guards standing in front of Koyuki's cell. Putting a kunai in his mouth, Naruto gripped the edge of the catwalk and in one fluid motion Naruto pulled himself over the edge of the catwalk.

"What the!" the two guards gasped as Naruto landed in front of them. But before either guard could make another sound, a kunai appeared in their throats, silencing them forever.

"Time to go Princess," Naruto said walking in front of the cell. "Rescue party is here."

"You!" Koyuki cried. "What are…how did you get here?"

"I snuck in, I am a shinobi after all," Naruto said. "Now, it's time to go."

"Where is the rest of your group?" Koyuki asked.

"Waiting to cover our escape, and the distraction," Naruto answered. "Oh that reminds me, the distraction. But first things first."

Naruto retrieved his kunai from the guards' throats, and after wiping them clean, he channeled some chakra into the blades causing them to glow a dark blue. With two swift swings, the bars of the cell door were cut and Naruto caught them before the door could hit the ground.

"And for the finishing touch," Naruto said making a single hand sign. Almost instantly, the prison was rocked by a series of loud explosions.

"What was that?" Koyuki screamed.

"The signal and our distraction, now come on," Naruto said, grabbing Koyuki's arm and pulling her from the cell.

"What about the handcuffs? Can you do anything about them?" Koyuki asked, yanking her hands out of Naruto's grip and holding them up.

"Right," Naruto said. He pulled a thin needle from his equipment pouch and quickly unlocked the cuffs.

"Finally," Koyuki said, rubbing her wrists. "Now, what's your plan?"

"A thank you would be appreciated," Naruto said under his breath. "This way."

Naruto led Koyuki up several flights of stairs; toward the corridor that Naruto had used to make his infiltration into the prison.

"Naruto?"

Naruto came to a sudden stop at the sound of a new voice, Koyuki nearly running into the young shinobi's back. At the end of the hallway were the other Konoha ninja, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Well done Naruto," Kakashi said. "Princess Koyuki, we should keep moving. Are you able to move?"

"Obviously," Koyuki snorted. "Follow me." Koyuki pushed her way past the Konoha ninja and set off down the hallway. Team 7 followed the actress/Princess, keeping their senses sharp as Koyuki led the group through the bowels of the palace. As the group made their way through the palace's dungeons and lower levels, Naruto couldn't help but feel as if they were being led around in circles.

"Here it is," Koyuki whispered coming to a sudden halt.

"Here is what?" Sakura asked.

"The secret passage that only the Daimyo and his family know," Koyuki said. "Our secret escape tunnels. This way."

The bad feeling in Naruto's stomach spiked as Team 7 followed Koyuki into the passageway.

"Ah Koyuki, and guests," the cold voice of Doto echoed through the large chamber that Koyuki had led the Konoha ninja into.

Team 7 froze as several large spotlights lit up and illuminated the room. It was the throne room, and Doto was standing on a tall pillar, staring down at the ninja.

"I wondered when you would return," Doto said with a dark chuckle. "It seems that your acting was top notch as usual Koyuki, you've done well in bringing these pests here."

"I've done as you asked Doto, now you'll keep your end of our bargain," Koyuki said. "I will renounce all claim to the throne and you will leave me alone forever."

"Of course dear niece," Doto said. "You have upheld your promise, once you leave here you shall not be troubled by me or my men again. However there is one final condition to our deal that you need to fulfill before you will be truly free of your past."

"And what is that?" Koyuki asked.

"You see I have found where my foolish brother, your father, hid away our country's treasure and I have found out that my brother locked it away using a very frustrating lock. It requires a special component that only you can provide Koyuki."

"And what's that?" Koyuki asked.

"Your blood," Doto said with a wide grin. "The locking mechanism requires the blood of the royal family, your blood dear niece. So you'll be coming with me." Doto reached out his arm, and suddenly a thin cable shot from his sleeve and wrapped around Koyuki's waist. There was a ripping sound and two black wings tore free of Doto's robes. The tyrant raised his other arm to the ceiling. A black beam shot from the gauntlet and blew a large hole in the ceiling.

"Come along Koyuki, we have a date with destiny," Doto said. "Nadare, I will leave these Konoha rats to you and your men." With a shout, Doto leapt into the air, the cable quickly retracting and pulling Koyuki with it.

"Time to die Kakashi," Nadare sneered.

"Not this time Nadare," Kakashi said. "Now Naruto!"

" **Hidden Mist Jutsu!** " Naruto said. A heavy mist quickly filled the room, greatly aided by the snow that had fallen into the throne room when Doto had blown a hole in the ceiling.

"After them!" Nadare roared as the mist cleared rapidly, showing that the throne room was empty aside from the Snow ninja.

"Nicely done Naruto," Kakashi said as Team 7 raced through the wintry forest.

"Thanks sensei," Naruto said.

"Where is Doto taking Koyuki?" Sakura asked. "With that flying armor, he could be anywhere by now."

" **Summoning Jutsu!** " Kakashi said, slamming a bloody palm to the ground. In a large puff of smoke, nine dogs appeared in a pack. "We need to find Koyuki, here is a sample. Hurry."

The nine dogs leaned forward and each took a deep whiff of the scrap of fabric that Kakashi had held out. "Scatter!" The dogs were gone in an instant. "Let's keep moving," Kakashi ordered. "Doto was heading in this direction before we lost sight of him. He would take the most direct route to his objective, he'll think that Nadare will have stopped us, or that we can't catch up in time."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all smirked as they followed Kakashi back into the trees. Team 7 had been running for five minutes when they heard a loud bark coming from their 2 o'clock. The Konoha ninja easily changed directions toward their new heading.

"Kakashi!"

The Konoha ninja froze as several Snow ninja landed in front of them. It was Nadare Roga and his two comrades. All three of the Snow ninja wore chakra armor that had wings, which explained how they caught up with Team 7 so quickly.

"Did you really think you could escape us so easily Kakashi?" Nadare taunted. "With our armor, we are invincible and with Lord Doto leading us, we will show the world the power of the Snow!"

Kakashi just stared at the man. "We need to keep moving, so don't get bogged down," he said. "There is only three of them, so whoever gets free will continue on to rescue Koyuki."

"Right," Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all said.

"Scatter!"

The four Konoha shinobi leapt apart, each in a different direction.

"After those brats, I will handle Kakashi," Nadare roared.

* * *

"Found you!"

Naruto dove sideways, avoiding the large metal gauntlet that blew apart the branch he had just been standing on. Naruto turned and saw that the heavily built Snow ninja was glaring down at him.

"I hoped I would run into you brat," Mizore snarled. "I owe you for what you did earlier, making a fool out of us. I am so going to enjoy this, runt."

Naruto drew two kunai and waited for his opponent to make the first move, and he didn't have to wait long. With a roar, Mizore surged forward with his gauntleted hand outstretched ready to grab Naruto. Naruto dove under the blow, landing on a lower branch and spun around. He hurled a kunai at Mizore but the chakra shield of Mizore's armor blocked it.

"You don't learn do you brat?" Mizore laughed. "You can't get through my shield with those pathetic attempts. You might as well keep running like the rat you are. That will be the only way you'll survive."

Mizore came speeding around a tree, using his gauntlet like a pivot. "But you won't get away from me brat!" Mizore shouted. He raised his arm and shot his gauntlet at Naruto, which took the blonde by surprise. The spilt second hesitation was all it took for the gauntlet to smash through Naruto's defense and grab Naruto's jacket.

"Got you!" Mizore cried joyfully. With a hard tug, Mizore retracted his gauntlet, dragging Naruto with it. "Die!" In Mizore's other hand, a thin kunai slid out of his armor.

Naruto's eyes widened as Mizore slammed his kunai deep into Naruto's abdomen all the way to its hilt. "Gutted like the fish you are," Mizore laughed.

"Not quite," Naruto's calm voice whispered. Mizore's eyes were locked on the smug blue eyes of Naruto's clone before it vanished in a puff of smoke.

" **Rasengan!** " Naruto shouted, slamming the tightly swirling ball of chakra into Mizore's back. The man's armor instantly activated its shield to deflect the attack. Sparks flew through the air as the two chakras fought against one another. But the contained typhoon that was the **Rasengan** would not so easily be defeated.

Mizore screamed in shock as he was propelled through the air and trees. In the small part of his mind that wasn't overwhelmed by pain, Mizore was wondering how his shield had failed. With a loud crash, Mizore's journey came to an abrupt stop when he slammed into a large tree trunk. Dimly, he heard the crunch of snow underfoot behind him.

"How?" Mizore asked, his voice watery as he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. His armor had broken and a piece of his chest plate had pierced his chest between his ribs.

"Relying on that armor made you overconfident and arrogant," Naruto said. "You yourself said you were invincible, and left yourself open to counter attacks. Now where is Doto taking Koyuki?"

"Like I would ever tell you anything," Mizore sneered, blood trickling from his mouth.

Naruto sighed. He had an idea on how to interrogate the man but he didn't want to use it. The method was one that Naruto wasn't sure he could control but what choice did he have.

' _Hey fox, you there?_ ' Naruto asked.

' _ **Of course I am meatbag, where else would I be?**_ ' the Kyubi responded. ' _ **What do you want?**_ '

' _I was wondering if you wanted to help me put the fear of Kami into this asshole?_ ' Naruto asked.

' _ **Why would I help you**_ _?_ '

' _Well I just thought you would want to show your power,_ ' Naruto said. ' _And I am giving you a chance to do so, so what do you say?_ '

The fox was silent for several moments. ' _ **Fine, I will agree to your request**_ _,_ ' the fox said. ' _ **What do you need from me**_ _?_ '

' _Just some of your chakra._ '

' _ **Very well**_ _._ '

Mizore was frantically looking around for an escape route, as the blonde brat seemed to have zoned out. But just as he was about to make a break for it, a wave of immense cold and fear washed over him. Turning back to the blonde runt in front of him, Mizore froze. Instead of a young boy trying to play the intimidating ninja, something out of a nightmare now stood in his place.

Naruto's eyes were now a blood red with black slit pupils rather than their normal sky blue. His birthmarks had darkened and his canines had lengthened, adding to the feral and wild look. Covering Naruto was a shroud of dark orange chakra that seemed to suck the very air from Mizore's lungs.

"What are you?" Mizore whispered.

"Your worst nightmare," Naruto growled. "Now are you going to tell me where Doto has taken Koyuki or will I have to convince you?"

Mizore swallowed even though his throat was bone dry. "I am not telling you anything," he said, trying to sneer. "I'd rather die than betray my comrades."

Naruto blinked. "I can respect that," he said. "But unfortunately that's the wrong answer." Naruto crouched down in front of Mizore and showed the frightened man his clawed hand. "You asked what I was, well when I said your worst nightmare I wasn't lying but it also wasn't the whole truth. You see I have this special chakra inside me. I wasn't born with it but I've had it all my life. Now this second chakra is quite volatile and dangerous, even to me but to someone who has never experienced its effects, well lets just say it is not pleasant."

The chakra shroud grew thicker around Naruto's claws, so thick that Mizore could barely see Naruto's fingers within it.

"What are you doing?" Mizore asked as Naruto's hand drew closer to his face.

"Giving you a chance to make the right decision," Naruto chuckled. "You really don't want this chakra in your body, trust me. Now, I'll ask you for the last time, where is Doto taking Koyuki? Or do you want your innards to end up like this branch?" Naruto picked up a twig and let his chakra flow through it.

Mizore's eyes were glued to the branch as it caught fire but it wasn't a bursting into flame type of fire, no the branch slowly began to glow a low red, much like the embers of a fire pit. The red spread up and down the branch, eating away at the wood leaving only ash in Naruto's hand.

"Now, imagine what my chakra will do to your skin, muscle and bones if that is what it did to a tree branch?" Naruto growled. "So are you going to answer my question or not?"

Mizore's eyes were glued on Naruto's clawed hand that was inching toward his face. He could feel his skin begin to turn warm as the claws neared him. Looking back at Naruto, Mizore saw no hesitation in the boy's eyes, only cruel amusement and resolve.

"He's taking her to the Rainbow Glacier," Mizore said.

"Where is that?"

"West of here, about 20 miles," Mizore answered.

"Thank you," Naruto said standing up and turning away.

"Ah!" Mizore screamed as Naruto whirled around and raked his clawed hand across Mizore's face, leaving four large gashes that cut through Mizore's left eye, nose and lips.

"Don't worry, you'll live," Naruto said walking away from the screaming Mizore. "I think."

The blonde walked off through the forest, ignoring the increasing cries of pain from Mizore.

' _What the hell fox, why did you make me do that?_ ' Naruto demanded of the fox spirit inside him.

' _ **Quit your whining brat, you wanted to scare that human**_ _,'_ the fox snarled. ' _ **And I did not do anything that you didn't want too.**_ '

' _And besides, that man was an enemy of Konoha, he deserved to die,_ ' a voice whispered. ' _All enemies of Konoha deserve to die._ '

' _I suppose that's true,_ ' Naruto thought as he leapt off into the trees toward the Rainbow Glaciers.

As Naruto approached the cliffs that overlooked the glacier, he felt a chill run up and down his spine. He didn't know what but something had happened, and it wasn't good for the Konoha shinobi.

And his feelings rang true as he reached the summit of the cliff. Looking down at the valley, Naruto saw a sight that nearly froze the very blood flowing through his veins. Sakura was lying in a heap at the base of a massive pillar, frantically trying to stem the blood pouring from a wound on her left leg. The wound was serious judging from the pool of blood growing beneath Sakura. Somewhat numbly, Naruto noticed that Koyuki was also injured but not as seriously as Sakura. The Princess was holding her right arm close to her chest, though Naruto could see that it was bleeding steadily. Doto was standing over by a small altar, a broad grin tinged with madness on his face. He was holding a knife above his head, and there was blood dripping from it and down onto the altar.

Naruto's vision began to flicker red as the Kyubi's chakra started leaking from the seal, reacting to Naruto's fluctuating emotions. The chakra surrounded Naruto in a shroud that slowly grew a tail. With a feral roar, Naruto launched himself off the top of the cliff and freefell down toward Doto, Sakura and Koyuki. With a booming crash that echoed all around the area, Naruto landed on all fours.

"Naruto," Sakura gasped as she recognized the appearance and chakra of her teammate.

"Are you all right Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his voice raspy and deep.

"I'll be fine Naruto," Sakura said. "Just stop Doto."

Naruto turned back to the power-crazed Daimyo who was looking at Naruto with confusion and annoyance. "You are dead Doto!" Naruto snarled. "I am going to kill you for what you've done to this country and Sakura-chan."

Naruto shot forward in an orange and black blur, missing Sakura's blush. Koyuki trembled in fright as the cold and angry chakra emanating from Naruto washed over her. She had never felt anything like it before, it felt like she had just been doused with ice water and then put outside into the middle of a storm, its winds cutting into her wet and cold skin. Doto merely laughed as Naruto raced toward him on all fours.

"Pathetic brat," he scoffed. "I don't know how you managed to escape Nadare but that braggart is nothing compared to me. I am the most powerful shinobi this land has ever seen!" Doto raised a hand and a ball of black chakra appeared. " **Black Dragon Bomb!** " The black ball of chakra sped at Naruto with the speed of a bullet.

" **Rasengan!** " Naruto roared, the signature ninjutsu of his father appearing in his hand in an instant. He thrust the jutsu forward, slamming it into the **Black Dragon Bomb**. The plateau was silent for a spilt second as the two jutsus battled one another before…

BOOM!

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out as her teammate was enveloped in the explosion. She frantically looked for any sign of the blonde boy as the smoke cleared.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Sasuke asked, appearing next to her.

"Sasuke-kun, do you see Naruto?" she asked. Sasuke quickly activated his **Sharingan** and scanned the area.

"He's fine Sakura," Sasuke announced just as the smoke finished clearing, reveling Naruto kneeling at the bottom of a large crater, the Kyubi's chakra still surrounding him. "What's going on?"

"I got here a few minutes after Doto and Koyuki did," Sakura explained. "He was going to kill Koyuki in order to have enough royal blood to open the seal, as he put it. I was able to stop him from killing Koyuki obviously but he was stronger than I thought. I'm pretty sure my leg is broken and probably at least a rib or two."

Sasuke's eyes shrank to slits as he turned toward the despot who had beaten his teammate. "I'm going to help Naruto, do you need anything?" he asked, his voice thick with anger.

"If you have any medical supplies, I'm running low on painkillers and bandages," Sakura said, her voice tight with pain. She had used up all of her painkillers to numb her broken leg. Sasuke wordlessly handed over his medical supplies. "Good luck and be careful."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted before leaping down into the crater next to Naruto. "You ok Naruto?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Naruto growled. "How is Sakura-chan?"

"She'll be fine," Sasuke answered. "So focus on our opponent instead of her. What happened with that last attack? How could something stop your jutsu?"

"I don't know," Naruto admitted. "Doto's jutsu was really strong, strong enough to cause my **Rasengan** to explode. But it doesn't matter, I am going to kill that bastard!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke snapped. "You need to calm down! You are no use to anyone if you let the fox control you."

Naruto growled deep in his throat, it sounded a lot like a bear's growl.

"Naruto!"

THAWCK!

Naruto's head rocked back as Sasuke's fist left a stinging ring of red on his cheek. The shock of Sasuke punching him caused the Kyubi's hold over Naruto to flicker and die away.

"Good, now that you are you, we can deal with this asshole," Sasuke said.

Naruto rubbed his stinging cheek. "Thanks Sasuke," he muttered as his eyes turned back to their normal blue.

"You're welcome," Sasuke said. "Now are you ready to fight for real?"

"Let's do this," Naruto said. " **Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!** " A crowd of clones appeared around Naruto and Sasuke, and as one the clones charged Doto who was watching with an amused smile.

"Come then you brats," Doto laughed. "Come to your deaths. **Black Dragon Blizzard!** " A massive dragon of ice rose from around Doto, its yellow eyes glaring down at the group of clones and Naruto and Sasuke. With a roar, the dragon dove down to the ground, its mouth wide open. Sakura and Koyuki had to each raise an arm to shield their eyes from the debris flying through the air. Naruto winced as his clones were all destroyed in one fell swoop but their sacrifice hadn't been in vein. Naruto and Sasuke had spilt up as soon as Doto had announced his attack.

"A futile gesture, splitting up," Doto laughed. " **Twin Black Dragon Blizzard!** " Two huge black ice dragons rose in front of Doto and took off after Naruto and Sasuke.

" **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!** " Naruto shouted, sending an overcharged wind jutsu at the dragon's head. Naruto's jutsu slammed into the dragon's head, disrupting Doto's jutsu just enough for Naruto to leap clear. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Sasuke dodge the other dragon and begin sprinting toward Doto. " **Transparent Escape Jutsu** ," Naruto whispered. The blonde quickly vanished from sight as his jutsu took effect.

The sound of chirping birds filled Sasuke's ears as he activated his strongest jutsu, the **Chidori**. The Uchiha heir knew that Naruto's **Rasengan** was stronger than his **Chidori** but the **Chidori** had major advantage over the **Rasengan** , it was meant to pierce anything. Which is exactly what Sasuke needed. With a burst of speed, Sasuke approached the despot who was just laughing at him. Something that sent Sasuke's blood pounding through his body, _how dare this braggart mock an Uchiha?_ Sasuke's **Sharingan** spun wildly as he zigzagged his way closer and closer to Doto.

Doto watched the black haired boy run toward him with intrigue and amusement. The jutsu in the boy's hand was something that caught Doto's interest. He had never seen anything like it. ' _This boy is an Uchiha,_ ' Doto realized, noticing the red gleam in Sasuke's eyes. "You are an Uchiha, are you not boy?" Doto asked.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke answered. "Why do you care?"

"It is not everyday that I get to kill an Uchiha," Doto said with a broad smile. "Come boy, come meet your death! **Black Dragon Blizzard!** "

Another dragon of black ice swirled into existence around Doto and roared. Sasuke's charge faltered for a spilt second as he dodged the jutsu. He righted his course but so did the dragon.

"Tch," Sasuke grunted as the dragon circled around Doto and dove down at Sasuke. " **Chidori!** " Sasuke shouted, slamming the assassination jutsu into the dragon's head. The lightning jutsu pierced easily through the ice dragon's head, causing the jutsu to fall apart. But that left Sasuke open as Doto appeared right in front of Sasuke.

"Time to die!" Doto shouted as the tall man punched Sasuke in the stomach, folding the young teen over.

"Gah!" Sasuke gasped, spittle flying from his mouth as he fought to keep the contents of his stomach in his stomach.

"You are years too young to even think of challenging me boy," Doto snarled. Gripping the back of Sasuke's collar, Doto lifted Sasuke off the ground and at eye level. "I must wonder how far the Uchiha clan has fallen for it to be wiped out by just a single ninja and in one night. But now, seeing you boy, I can now see that the Uchiha were weak, nothing more than charlatans and thieves."

Sasuke's eyes flashed as he struggled madly in Doto's grip.

"Oh, does that anger you boy? Well, do not fret, soon you won't be worrying about anything," Doto laughed. "Soon you will be reunited with your fallen clan, you should be praising me for giving you this mercy." A thin blade sprang into Doto's hand, its blade shining brightly even in the weak sunlight breaking through the clouds.

" **Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!** "

The chakra shield of Doto's armor burst into existence around the ruler as a volley of **Vacuum Bullets** slammed into the shield. The attack didn't penetrate the shield but the attack accomplished what Naruto wanted it too. The shield shoved Sasuke away from Doto violently, sending the Uchiha tumbling head over heels. Doto whirled around just as Naruto landed, a **Rasengan** swirling in his hand.

" **Rasengan**!" Naruto roared, slamming the contained typhoon into the chakra shield.

Doto laughed as the **Rasengan** ground at his shield. "It is pointless boy, my armor is leagues better than any of my subordinates. It is impenetrable," he boasted. "You should just give up."

"Sorry, giving up is not in my nature," Naruto growled as he sent more and more chakra into the **Rasengan** , he could feel his fingers begin to prickle and burn from all the chakra he was forcing through them.

Doto's laugh slowly died away when he noticed that the boy's jutsu had not died away, in fact it seemed to be growing stronger. He also began to feel a warmth in his chest. It was coming from the chakra battery gem that powered his armor. Doto's eyes widened as with an ear splitting crack, the gem broke and the shield shattered.

"Take this!" Naruto shouted as he slammed his weakening **Rasengan** into the man's chest.

"No!" Doto screamed as the weakened jutsu slammed into his chest plate, quickly eating away at the metal plating and then threw him backward, spinning wildly. Over the rushing winds, Doto heard the chirping of birds coming from behind him. ' _What is that?_ ' he wondered before he heard the last word of his life.

" **Chidori!** "

Sasuke's jutsu sliced through the back of Doto's armor with ease and ended the despot's life with a single blow. Sasuke watched as Doto's lifeless body slid from his arm and to the ground. He shook the blood from his arm and looked up at the approaching Naruto.

"It's over," Naruto said.

"No, it is just beginning," Sasuke answered, glancing over at the young woman who apparently was the only hope for the Land of Snow, who also was the same woman who had disavowed her claim to the throne in an effort to run away from her past and responsibilities.

 **A/N: Well, there you have it. The newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Potential_ , hope you all liked it. Sorry that its been such a long time since updating this story but work has picked up in the last month, and my love of _Naruto_ has been hindered over the past year due to its unsatisfactory ending, and the controversy and confusing messages that have come out since Nov. 2014. Well, anyway let me know what you all thought of this chapter, what you'd like to see for it to get better, etc. Til next time, **

**SlyNinjaKnight**


	7. Visiting a Snake's Den

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine! It all belongs to Kishimoto, I am just borrowing the characters and settings for some non-profit fun and experience in writing. **

It had been a full month since Naruto had been reunited with Jiraiya after completing his mission with his old team in the Land of Snow. Team 7 had spent an extra five days in the Land of Snow's capital to let Sakura recover from her injuries, or at least enough for her to travel back to Konoha. This extra time also allowed Naruto time to find the scroll that his clone had hidden, the scroll that contained the blueprints of the chakra armor that the Land of Snow solely produced. An ANBU member arrived on the second day and took the scroll.

Koyuki had come to visit the Konoha ninja on the third day of their stay. To say the visit was awkward would be an understatement. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were not happy with the actress/Daimyo after she had betrayed the group, and how she had treated them all since the beginning of the mission.

"Look, I know that I wasn't the best client for you," Koyuki admitted. "My past was something that I wanted to just forget, even if it was something that I needed to face and overcome. I realized that the people of this country need a leader who will look after and lead them into the future, not dwell on the past."

"And you believe that you are that person?" Naruto asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Koyuki asked.

"Yes the people of this country need a leader who will look after them and lead the well into the future," Naruto said. "But being a leader is not easy, it requires someone with broad shoulders, someone who will be there for them through the good times and the bad, someone who won't crumble at the first sign of trouble. Getting your country back on its feet will take a lot of work. Are you willing to roll up your sleeves and do that hard work?"

Koyuki quickly left the hospital room and didn't return. And honestly Naruto didn't care, he hoped that Koyuki would grow a backbone, at least for the people of the Land of Snow, they needed a strong leader and Naruto wasn't sure that Koyuki was one.

"All right there Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm fine sensei," Naruto said.

"You don't seem fine Naruto," Jiraiya said. "Still thinking about Koyuki?"

"What are you talking about? I am not thinking about Koyuki."

"I think you deny too much Naruto," Jiraiya chuckled. "It's not wrong to think about a beautiful woman, why there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the beautiful women I've met in my life."

"That's not what I am thinking about!" Naruto shouted.

Jiraiya laughed deeply. "You were wondering if she'd make a good Daimyo for her people or not. Am I right?"

Naruto nodded without looking up to face Jiraiya.

"Well, I can't tell you whether Koyuki will be one or not," Jiraiya said honestly. "One can only hope and trust in her. It's all any of us can do when not being in a position of power."

"Is that what it all comes down too, trusting someone else?"

"Yes," Jiraiya said. "It all comes down to trust when you think about it? When a client submits a mission, they trust that the ninja of that village will complete it. Any parent who sends their child to the Academy trusts that the instructors will teach their children well and proper. You trust Kakashi to protect you during a mission, same with your teammates. It all comes down to trust Naruto. If there was more trust in the world then perhaps the world wouldn't be as dangerous a place."

"But we are ninja, doesn't that mean we are by nature untrustworthy or suspicious?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "You are right Naruto, the shinobi world is one of shadows and looking over one's shoulder," he said. "But I hope that one day in the future people will be able to trust and understand one another, at least that's my dream."

"No offense sensei but that dream seems really naïve," Naruto said. "Do you really think Iwa would trust Konoha in anything? Or Kumo?"

"Probably not," Jiraiya admitted. "But a man has to have dreams or what else does he have?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "But I don't think your dream will come true. People don't want to trust strangers, and being a ninja means you are automatically untrustworthy."

"I never said things would be easy Naruto," Jiraiya said. "If dreams were easy then the world would be a very nice place."

"Very boring though," Naruto said. "If everyone's dreams were achieved, then what would be worth living for? Everything would be just given to everyone. People would just get lazy and boring."

"Perhaps," Jiraiya said. "But that time is still a long ways off, if it were ever come to pass." He was about to continue when the pair heard the cry of a hawk coming from the sky. Jiraiya and Naruto looked up and saw a messenger hawk circling above them. Jiraiya raised his arm and the hawk swooped down and landed on the Sannin's arm. The white haired man quickly removed the scroll from the hawk's back and it immediately flew off into the air.

"What's the mission?" Naruto asked.

"Tsunade says that they've found a base that is believe to have been abandoned by Orochimaru," Jiraiya said. "She's sent an ANBU team to check it out, we will be joining them as back-up. Congrats brat, you just got assigned your second mission as an ANBU. Now let's get moving, we've got quite a bit of ground to cover."

Naruto quickly gathered up his gear and then he and Jiraiya leapt off into the trees. "Where is the base?" Naruto asked.

"On the border of Kusa and Taki," Jiraiya said. "So we need to pick up the pace, we have got a long way to go. I would stop asking questions and conserve your strength, you'll need it."

* * *

The trip to the small town that straddled the borders of Taki and Kusa took two days at full speed for Naruto and Jiraiya. The master and apprentice duo met up with the ANBU team that Tsunade had sent to investigate the site just outside of the town. It was a four-man team consisting of operatives named BOAR, TURTLE, WOLF and LIZARD. While the masks covered their faces, Naruto could tell that LIZARD was a woman.

"Lord Jiraiya, Chunin Uzumaki," BOAR said. "We have reason to believe that the base is abandoned but can not be 100% sure. We have not witnessed anyone entering or leaving but we cannot rule out that there might be other entrances. TURTLE used a sensing technique to see deeper into the base but was unsuccessful in seeing anything more than a basic outline." BOAR handed Jiraiya a scroll, which the Sannin opened.

"Here Naruto, study these blueprints," Jiraiya ordered. "You'll be giving in with the ANBU to search the base. Your **Shadow Clones** will make excellent scouts."

"Right sensei," Naruto said.

"Uzumaki, take this," BOAR said, holding out a mask. "For this mission, your codename will be RABBIT."

Naruto huffed but accepted the mask without a word.

"Nar…RABBIT, your mission is to assist the others on their search and destroy mission," Jiraiya said. "They are searching for any information relating to Orochimaru's whereabouts and any other bases that might be in the area. You are to eliminate any Orochimaru's supporters that you find and if come across Orochimaru, you will retreat and find me. You are not to engage Orochimaru in any fashion, do you understand me RABBIT?" The elder sage pinned Naruto with a KI-laced glare, making Naruto feel much like the animal that was represented by his mask.

"Yes sensei," Naruto answered through his mask. The mask was amazing in Naruto's opinion. While it looked only like a simple mask with a rabbit painted on its face, on the back, the mask was very intricate. The eyeholes were much larger than they initially looked, there was a screen covering them to keep out any moisture or other particulates like dust or debris. There were seals etched into the back of the mask but Naruto wasn't sure what the seals did. They were much too advanced for Naruto to decipher.

"Come on RABBIT," BOAR said. "We need to get moving, the base's entrance is on the far side of the town and I would like to make our attack at final light."

"Yes Captain," Naruto said.

"Good luck RABBIT," Jiraiya said. "And remember your limits."

"Yes sensei."

The four ANBU and Naruto leapt off into the forest toward the hidden entrance of the base.

"RABBIT, in order for us to work successfully together we will need to know what you are capable of," BOAR said. "So please tell us what jutsu you know."

Naruto was a bit surprised at the question; he wasn't sure what to do, he knew that he couldn't disobey a direct order but Naruto was also leery of disclosing all of his techniques to anyone, not even Jiraiya knew all the moves that he could perform. "I know the **Shadow Clone** and **Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu** like you know," Naruto said after a moment's pause. "I also know the **Shuriken** and **Kunai Multiplication Jutsus** , the **Water Release: Hidden Mist** , the **Water Release: Tidal Surge** and **Water Release: Water Bullet**. There is also **Wind Release: Wind Bullet** , **Wind Release: Howling Tempest** and **Wind Release: Wind Scar Jutsus**. And **Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld** and **Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsus**. Oh and the **Transparency Escape Jutsu**. That's it."

BOAR nodded. "Not a bad amount for one so young, and nice variety as well," BOAR said. "Three different elements as well. You will be paired with TURTLE and LIZARD while inside the base. You will follow every order that they give without question, do you understand?"

"Yes Captain," Naruto nodded.

"Good," BOAR said. The ANBU Captain turned to WOLF. "Let's move WOLF."

The other ANBU nodded, and the pair vanished. Naruto looked at the two remaining ANBU. They were both taller than Naruto by at least a head but there was something familiar about them both.

"So what are my orders?" Naruto asked.

"Like BOAR said, we are to infiltrate the base and find any information on Orochimaru's other bases and experiments," LIZARD said. "We will likely use your **Shadow Clone Jutsu** as forward scouts in the base. You do know the secret to the jutsu?" Naruto nodded. "Good, then as soon as we enter the base you will create as many clones as you can and send them ahead of you."

"Um, how many clones should I make?" Naruto asked. "I can make a lot."

LIZARD looked at Naruto, though it was hard for Naruto to tell what the woman's eyes were doing through the mask. "How many can you make RABBIT?" LIZARD asked.

"An actual number, I am not sure," Naruto said. "But over a hundred for sure. But if I want them to have some chakra available for one jutsu, I would say only fifty or so."

Naruto didn't see them but both TURTLE's and LIZARD's eyes widened at Naruto's claim. Neither of the ANBU could make more than ten **Shadow Clones** , and that was without any of the clones having any chakra to perform a jutsu. For this child to create so many clones and have them able to use jutsu was a bit intimidating and deflating.

"All right RABBIT, it is time to move," TURTLE said as the sun dipped beneath the treetops.

Naruto followed the two ANBU into the trees as they led him to the base entrance.

"Ok RABBIT, I want you to send a pair of **Shadow Clones** to scout out the entrance," LIZARD ordered. Naruto complied and silently created two **Shadow Clones** and the clones cloaked themselves with the **Transparency Escape Jutsu**. The invisible clones approached the storefront, where the ANBU had discovered the entrance to Orochimaru's base. Naruto closed his eyes as he concentrated on guiding his two clones. While fighting Naruto would normally just let his clones go wild, letting them do whatever they wanted. It was much easier to control individual clones if he closed his eyes and concentrated, though the drawback was of course that Naruto had to have his eyes closed and that made him vulnerable. By creating only a small amount of clones and focusing totally on them, Naruto could see through the clones' eyes and have guide them, making them excellent spies and saboteurs.

"We're in," Naruto said opening his eyes. "The two clones found two guards, and knocked them out."

"Well done," TURTLE said. The three ANBU operatives leapt down from the tree and dashed into the storefront. Naruto's two clones were waiting for them with two men bound and gagged behind the counter.

"You didn't eliminate them RABBIT?" LIZARD asked. "Why?"

"I didn't see a reason for it," Naruto answered. "If I killed them then I would have to use **Shadow Clones** to impersonate them. And the clones would easily be found out if they had to fight or even switch shifts. Isn't there a jutsu that can make them forget we were here?"

LIZARD and TURTLE exchanged a silent glance that seemed to speak volumes to the two ANBU. LIZARD then spoke, "You are lucky that I am here RABBIT, I happen to have such a jutsu. But you should also know that those men are enemies of Konoha and should be treated as such."

Naruto barely kept his hand from moving to his holster and hurling two kunai into the throats of the two bound men. _They were enemies of his home and they deserved death for such an act_. ' _But they are unarmed and defenseless,_ ' Naruto argued in his head. ' _It would feel too much like murder instead of eliminating an enemy of the village._ '

' _Being a ninja means getting your hands dirty ,'_ a dark voice said. ' _You know this. And weren't you ordered to eliminate any enemies of Konoha and associates of Orochimaru?_ '

' _I was,_ ' Naruto admitted.

LIZARD knelt down in front of the two men and made several hand signs that Naruto couldn't see, the ANBU operative then put her hands on the men's forehead. Through Naruto's mask, he saw a flow of chakra leave LIZARD's hands and into the men's heads.

"There," LIZARD said, standing up. "They won't remember us now and will wake up in a minute. So untie them and let's get moving."

Naruto untied the ropes and then the three ANBU operatives dashed through the door and into the underground base. A moment later, the two guards rose from their seats and returned to their positions, flanking the door.

"Ok RABBIT, your turn," TURTLE said. Naruto nodded and created a squad of clones. The clones slowly made their way ahead of the ANBU trio, attempting to clear any traps that they could find. But there weren't any traps. The ANBU trio made their way deeper and deeper into the base undeterred. But Naruto couldn't help but feel as if the group was being watched.

"RABBIT, keep up," LIZARD ordered. "You do not want to be left behind."

"Right," Naruto said, jogging up to reach the other two ANBU.

"What's wrong RABBIT?" TURTLE asked.

"Don't you think that this is too easy?" Naruto asked. "I mean, aside from the two guards, we haven't any resistance even though this is supposed to be a base for Snake? Shouldn't there be more guards?"

"BOAR and WOLF will likely be drawing most of the guards," TURTLE said. "But you do have a point, we have not met any substantial resistance. So be on alert for anything out of the ordinary RABBIT."

"Yes sir," Naruto answered.

The three-man team silently kept moving deeper and deeper into the base. They came upon a closed door at the end of the hallway. Naruto looked at the two older ANBU and noticed that they were had drawn the short swords that all ANBU had. Naruto didn't have one of those swords, as they were only issued to true ANBU members, so he pulled one of his special kunai from his holster.

"RABBIT, I want you to flood the room with a bunch of **Shadow Clones** as soon as I open it," LIZARD ordered. "That will flush out anyone hiding, do you understand?"

Naruto nodded and began gathering his chakra in preparation for the jutsu. LIZARD kicked the door open, and Naruto's clones surged into the room. Naruto, LIZARD and TURTLE dashed inside on the clones' heels. But the room they entered was empty aside from them and Naruto's clones, and it was very different than any room that they had found previously. Most of the other rooms were just laboratories or offices, completely empty and stripped of any information. This room that they had just entered wasn't an actual reason, it was a long tall corridor that looked like a jail wing, with four levels of jail cells

"Welcome Konoha ninja," a laughing voice echoed around the room. Naruto, LIZARD and TURTLE moved as one, forming a triangle with each member facing outward. "I honestly expected you to find this base much sooner, perhaps I overestimated the intelligence of Konoha's leaders. But now I get to send several ANBU bodies back to that bitch Senju. Oh and lookie here I get to send the Uzumaki brat back too. Once I drain the Kyubi from him of course."

Naruto froze as the voice announced his darkest secret. The ANBU already knew but for someone outside the village to know about the fox was bad.

"Or maybe I will give Iwa your corpse, little Namikaze spawn?" the voice pondered, cruel amusement lacing its tone. "They will pay a pretty coin for it. Yes, I think that's what I'll do. Ok my lovely guests, to the person who brings me that short one's body alive; they'll gain their freedom. Doesn't that sound amazing?"

All of a sudden, every door flew open throughout the entire cellblock. And from nearly every cell a prisoner stepped out into light. There were dozens of them, all wearing a similar garb, a drab plain tunic with a rope belt that was colored slightly purple. Naruto noticed that most of the prisoners looked to be former ninja judging by their muscle tone and size, but none held any weapons that he could see.

The prisoners leapt down from the catwalks lining the walls and surrounded the three shinobi. Most of the prisoners were middle-aged men, though there was a scattering of women, older men and even a couple of teenagers and children. But all the prisoners had the same look in their eyes, they were looking at the three Konoha shinobi like they were pieces of meat, the first piece of meat the prisoners had seen in years.

"Well then, I shall leave you all to become better acquainted," the voice laughed. There was a sharp pop that echoed around the room, one that Naruto was familiar with; it was the sound of a radio or loudspeaker being turned off.

"What now?" Naruto asked.

"We fight," LIZARD said, gripping her sword tighter. "These are enemies of our village and they must be eliminated."

"What? How can you tell that they are our enemies? They are prisoners of Orochimaru, doesn't that make them our allies?" Naruto asked.

"No RABBIT," TURTLE said. "Just because they are prisoners of Orochimaru doesn't make them our allies. The enemy of our enemy doesn't always mean they are our friends. And look at their faces, they mean to do us harm in order to escape. Do your duty RABBIT."

Naruto felt a cold chill wash over him as the two older ANBU readied themselves for battle. With a loud cry, the prisoners surged forward, charging at the three ANBU.

The battle, if it could be called that, lasted a scant ten minutes. It passed by in a blur for Naruto, with only flashes retained in his mind. When it was all over, not a single prisoner remained alive. One could hardly take a step without slipping in a pool of blood or stepping on a body part.

Naruto could feel the bile, thick and hot, rapidly rising up his throat as he gathered up his kunai and shuriken from the corpses and floor and walls. He saw that LIZARD and TURTLE were cleaning their swords and watching him out of the corner of their eyes.

"You did well RABBIT," LIZARD said. "Perhaps the rumors about your skills are not overrated after all."

Naruto frowned behind his mask. "Why did we have to slaughter them?" he asked. "There had to be another way, they were prisoners looking to escape from Orochimaru."

"The world is not always so simple," TURTLE said. "Those prisoners would have torn us apart to find freedom even if we had shown them the way out. I have seen bases like this in the past, those prisoners. I have fought them before. Orochimaru had twisted them into puppets of his will. He preys on the weak and frightened, giving them false hope and promises to sway them to his side. But he will always break his word to serve his own ends."

"But…"

"There are no buts RABBIT," LIZARD snapped. "We follow our orders, the Hokage's orders, to the letter, no questions. That is the life of the ANBU, to be the silent and watchful protectors of the great tree of Konoha. To do whatever is necessary to protect Konoha from any and all of her enemies, no matter their age or appearance. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Naruto answered though the word left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Let's keep moving," TURTLE said. "There is no telling what horrors Orochimaru might have awaiting us in this hell pit."

The three ANBU slowly made their way deeper into the prison corridor, the stench of freshly split blood and guts slowly filling their noses even through the filters in their masks. They left the prison cell and found themselves in a hallway with many doors. At the far end of the hallway, there were two open doors. Naruto could hear the ruffling and rustling of feet and papers inside the room.

The three ANBU quickly approached the open door. LIZARD counted down from three with her fingers.

"BOAR! WOLF!" TURTLE said when he, LIZARD and Naruto dashed into the open room.

The two other ANBU whirled around, their hands grasping for their swords. But they lowered them when BOAR and WOLF noticed that the newcomers were their comrades.

"Report," BOAR commanded.

"We have found nothing of importance sir," LIZARD said. "We eliminated several dozen escaping prisoners, they had been set free by someone else within the base or watching us on video. It is unclear which."

BOAR nodded as LIZARD concluded her report. "We have found scant information as well," the captain said. "We shall retreat to the rendezvous point with Lord Jiraiya, and then blow this base to rubble."

The four ANBU quickly left the base, slapping explosive tags to anything they could, walls, pillars, Naruto adding his own special tags to the group.

"Find anything important?" Jiraiya asked when the ANBU team returned to the surface and met back up on the outskirts of the town.

"No Lord Jiraiya, the base was nearly completely abandoned," BOAR reported. "LIZARD, TURTLE and RABBIT ran into some of snake's experiments that were trying to flee but they contained and eliminated the threats."

"I see," Jiraiya said glancing over at Naruto who wasn't looking at him. "Anyway, well done BOAR, you and your team. You should head on back to the village and file your report. I can handle RABBIT from here."

"Yes Lord Jiraiya," BOAR saluted. The four ANBU bowed to Jiraiya before vanishing in swirls of leaves, leaving no trace of their presence. "Come on brat, let's get moving. And lose that mask."

Naruto took off his mask and put it into his backpack that Jiraiya tossed him. He leapt off after Jiraiya, leaving behind in the distance a rising column of smoke and fire.

"All right brat, spill," Jiraiya said when he and Naruto stopped to make camp that night.

"What are you talking about sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Don't give me that Naruto, you've been quiet all day," Jiraiya said. "Now tell me what is wrong or you are going to get a first hand experience of my interrogation skills."

Naruto looked down into the small fire in the middle of their campsite, watching the flames dance. "The prisoners we fought today," he said without looking up. "Some of them were kids or old people, they posed no threat to us. But LIZARD just ordered us to cut them all down like they were nothing. LIZARD said that they were enemies of the village and deserved death for it. I was a bit surprised at how easy it was to follow LIZARD's orders and kill those people. And I am afraid that I am turning into someone that I hate, someone that would take a life with no hesitance."

Jiraiya sighed as he watched his godson lay his fears out in the open. "Naruto, that is something that every ninja goes through and something that you have to overcome by yourself. But I can say that the fact that you are worrying about this tells me that you are going to be ok."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks sensei."

"Of course brat," Jiraiya said. "Just so you know, your dad had the same fear during his first years as a ninja, and even up until the end of the war."

"He did?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"How did he get over it?"

"This isn't something you ever truly get over Naruto," Jiraiya said softly. "It is a question that you will constantly ask yourself your entire career, all ninja do. But your father realized something, something that was more important than anything else in the world."

"What was it?"

"You, you and your mother," Jiraiya said. "Your father had created a jutsu that allowed him to kill dozens of people in the blink of an eye, and he needed something to ground him, to keep him from becoming the very monster that Iwa accused him of being. That was your mother at first, and then you. Minato realized that he would do anything to keep your mother and you safe, even if it meant becoming the most hated person in the world."

"Family," Naruto whispered as images of the people he loved back in the village appeared in the orange flames of the fire.

 **A/N: Well there you go, the newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Potential_. I know its been a bit longer than normal for me posting this story, and it is a bit shorter than previous chapters but work has picked up again. Working in sports, there is no end of season slow down, there is only the beginning of the next season. And with spring, that means baseball and softball. I am attempting to schedule posting at least a chapter a month for each of my two main stories, this and _Harry Potter and the Impending Storm_ but since writing fanfiction doesn't pay my bills, work comes first. But anyway, please let me know what you all think of this chapter, and any suggestions on where it should go moving forward. I am excited to say that the next chapter will be starting a new arc that I hope everyone will enjoy. Til next time,**

 **SlyNinjaKnight**


	8. Arc II: A New Journey

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is NOT mine! I only own copies of some of the manga volumes and anime episodes on iTunes. I am just having some fun with Kishimoto's creation, since he certainly didn't mind others doing so. The difference is, I am not making any money from this. **

"It's been too quiet since he left," a beautiful blonde woman muttered as she pushed aside a stack of paper; requisition forms, release forms, all sorts of bureaucratic forms that were an essential evil, one that was needed to run a major ninja village. "I can't believe that brat managed to trick me into taking this job."

"Lady Tsunade," a younger but still beautiful black haired woman said. "You know that Naruto-kun didn't trick you into taking your rightful place. You were the right choice milady. And beside, your new apprentices are coming along quite well. And the hospital is beginning to show promise once again."

"I suppose," Tsunade Senju, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha, sighed as she turned in her chair to gaze out over the village she, like her grandfather, great-uncle and sensei before her, ruled. "I wonder where the brat is now? Jiraiya better not be turning him into a pervert like himself or sensei."

"I am sure that Lord Jiraiya is taking excellent care of Naruto-kun," Shizune said. "You have the reports from Kakashi and BOAR; they both say that Naruto-kun is advancing quite rapidly."

"Yes, the brat has apparently inherited a modicum of talent from his parents," Tsunade chuckled. "And he is going to need all of that talent and skill in the future. But he won't be alone at least; his generation has quite a bit of talent as well. And they will need that talent and a whole bunch of luck with what is coming."

"Milady, you can't honestly think that sending a team to the Chunin Exams is a good idea?" Shizune asked, walking to her lady's side. "It would be amount to suicide for those children. What is the hurry?"

"They are strong Shizune," Tsunade said. "Ever since that snake bastard Orochimaru invaded the village, their senseis have been training them to the bone, to get them stronger. We might have to thank Orochimaru for what he did, he popped everyone's bubble of a safe and secure world. The invasion made all these brats realize that the world we live in is a dark and dangerous place. They have all come a long way, and perhaps this will show Kumo and Iwa that Konoha has not weakened. No, we will show them all that we are still the strongest."

Sitting on the desk on top of the latest stack of papers was an open scroll with the heading: Invitation to Chunin Exams hosted by Kumogakure no Sato.

* * *

The sounds of panting and running footsteps echoed around Training Ground Seven as Team 7 completed their physical training, fifty laps around the lake with their weight seals activated.

"Well done Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said as the two genin reached their sensei. "You both have truly progressed well these last few weeks. I would confidently put you both at mid-Chunin-level in speed and endurance."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," Sakura panted as she dropped to the ground exhausted. Sasuke was fairing a bit better, he hadn't fallen to the ground but was hunched over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Kakashi had recently upped the weight that Sasuke and Sakura's seals generated, saying that they were ready for the next level. The seals now made Sakura feel as if she had an additional one hundred pounds weighing her down, Sasuke's seals were set at one hundred and fifty pounds.

"Come over here you two," Kakashi said. The two genin made their way over to their sensei, seeing that the jonin was not alone. A boy about their age was standing next to him. Sasuke frowned as he watched the stranger, he didn't know why but there was something different about this teenager, something about him made Sasuke feel uneasy. The teen's face was completely free of emotion and so were his eyes, it almost felt like Sasuke was looking into the face of his brother Itachi once again.

"What's going on sensei?" Sasuke asked. "Who is this?"

"This is Sai," Kakashi said. "He will be joining our team for the time being."

"What? Why sensei? Naruto is our third teammate," Sakura argued.

"Well yes, Naruto was part of Team 7," Kakashi said. "But Naruto will not be available to join us until he returns from his travels with Lord Jiraiya. And he also has been promoted."

"Promoted?" Sasuke asked. "When?"

"To Chunin," Kakashi said. "And it was when Naruto left on his trip with Lord Jiraiya."

"Why was Naruto promoted though? And why didn't he tell us?" Sakura asked, feeling slightly hurt that her teammate (well perhaps now former teammate) had been promoted and didn't tell her or Sasuke.

"His promotion was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, not to say he didn't deserve it," Kakashi said. "Lady Hokage decided that after seeing Naruto in action on the mission to recover her, and hearing what he did in the Chunin Exam Finals before they were interrupted by the Invasion, he deserved to be promoted. But we are getting off track, this is Sai, your new teammate."

"Why are we getting a new teammate? We don't need a new teammate," Sasuke argued. He also felt hurt and a bit angry that Naruto hadn't told him about the blonde's promotion. Hearing the news that Naruto was now of a higher rank only fueled Sasuke's desire to fight Naruto.

"You will need one if you want to enter the Chunin Exams," Kakashi sing-songed with his typical closed eye-smile, holding out three sheets of paper.

"Chunin Exams?" Sakura asked, her mind flashing back to the Forest of Death and the Invasion by Sound and Sand.

"It has been nearly six months since the last one," Sasuke said. "Where are the Exams being held this time?"

"Kumo."

"Kumo? Why there? And what about Naruto's heritage?" Sakura asked. "Weren't they threatening war just over Naruto?"

"Partially true," Kakashi said. "None of the villages truly want war, not even Kumo or Iwa. But Kumo is using these Exams to show the world that they are the strongest village."

"But why can't we just wait until the Exams are in a different village?"

"Well, if you want to wait another two years before the Exams are held in an allied village then you are more than welcome too," Kakashi said with a closed eye smile.

"Two years?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Yes, after these Exams, they will be held in Iwa and then Kiri, so that means it will be two years before the Exams are held in Suna," Kakashi answered.

Sakura looked at Sasuke who was thinking.

"Why are you telling us this sensei?" Sasuke asked. "Why would Lady Hokage even be thinking of sending a team all the way to Kumo for the Exams with the tensions so high between our two villages?"

"Strength," a flat voice answered. Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi turned to the speaker, Sai.

"What do you mean by that Sai?" Sakura asked the pale boy. "Why would you think that?"

"The village would be perceived as weak if Lady Hokage did not send at least one team to the Exams," Sai said, his voice flat as ever. It sent a shiver down Sakura's spine, Sai's voice had no inflection or tone; he sounded like a robot from those late-night horror movies Sakura would sneak out of her room and watch as a child when her parents weren't home.

"Sai is right," Kakashi said. "The best way to show our strength, in a way that no one, ally or enemy, could question would be to have our genin do well in the upcoming Exams. Now Naruto has raised the bar quiet high with his exploits in the Invasion and with what Orochimaru revealed in the Bingo Book but still having the next generation of Konoha ninja flourish in a hostile Chunin Exam would certainly give pause to Kumo and Iwa."

"So you want us to compete in the Exams? To be shown as what, showpieces? Pawns?" Sasuke asked.

"Essentially yes," Kakashi admitted. "That is what we all are. As shinobi, we are essentially the face of our villages. We are the ones that show our village's strength and power. If a village's ninja is powerful, then the village itself is strong. So Lady Hokage has decided to send several teams to Kumo for the Exams, and Team 7 will be one of those teams."

"Who else?" Sakura asked.

"Lady Hokage believes that the two other teams from your graduating class as well as Gai's team deserves the chance to compete after the first Exams were interrupted," Kakashi said. "Though there are some questions about certain members of Team 8 and Team Gai and them going to Kumo.

"Neji and Hinata right?" Sasuke said. "The Hyuga incident from ten years ago," Kakashi nodded. "I can see why that would cause some issues."

"Genins Hinata and Neji Hyuga are shinobi of this village and they will follow their orders," Sai said. "That is the highest honor that a shinobi can perform."

"Yes Hinata and Neji are ninja of Konoha and yes, they will follow their orders," Kakashi said with a hidden frown. He knew who this boy belonged too, and he didn't like him being around his genin but orders were orders. "But there are also political matters that need to taken into consideration. Kumo has had a history of gathering or attempting to gather bloodline limits in order to strengthen their village. They have already made an attempt on Lady Hinata's life ten years ago, and tensions between our two villages have been on a razor's edge ever since. It could end up being more prudent for Neji and Hinata to not accompany their teams to the Exams."

"But that's not fair to Hinata," Sakura said. "Or to Neji."

"Our line of work isn't fair Sakura, you know this," Kakashi reminded the pink haired teen. "And the Hokage doesn't want to raise tensions even farther than they already are. Also, don't tell anyone this but aside from Shino Aburame, I don't believe that Team 8 is ready for such a challenge. Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuga are strong, strong for genin for sure but to do well in a Kumo Chunin Exam, one must be at least chunin-level if not stronger to have a chance. Kumo has always been the most militaristic of all the ninja villages. They value strength and power, both as an individual and as a group and village, much more than Konoha does."

Sakura and Sasuke glanced at one another, agreeing silently with their sensei. Even after over six months since graduating, Kiba was still too much of a loudmouth and braggart, and Hinata was too soft hearted to really go far in the ninja world.

"So what are we going to do then?" Sakura asked.

"It will be up to you two in deciding if you want to go to the Exams, you have one week to decide," Kakashi said. "We will be training together for the next week so that you all know how to work together if you three are going to be on a team together. So how about some introductions."

A week later, a select group of young genin was gathered in the office of the Hokage. The eleven genin were standing in front of their Hokage's desk with their sensei standing behind their students.

"Thank you all for coming," Tsunade said. She put her arms on the desk and rested her chin on her clasped hands, staring at the assembled ninja before her. "You all know why you have been called here, so I will be brief. These Chunin Exams are going to be held in Kumo in three weeks time, and Konoha will be sending three teams to those Exams. Nine genin will be sent to the Exams to show the world that Konoha is still the strongest ninja village."

"Three teams Lady Hokage?" Kurenai asked. "But there are eleven genin here, so that means…"

"That two genin will not be going, yes that is correct," Tsunade said. "I am only going to send the genin that I am absolutely sure will be able to handle this. Kumo and Iwa are still threatening war with us but we cannot afford to show weakness right now. And so I will be sending the very best to ensure that the world does not forget that Konoha is strong."

"So who will be going then?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade close her eyes and took a deep breath. When the Hokage's eyes opened, they were hard, full of resolve but there was also sadness in her honey brown eyes. "Teams 7 and Gai will be going, while Genin Aburame will be joining Team 10 in place of Chunin Nara."

A heavy silence fell over the office as most of the occupants struggled to not turn and look at Team 8. Kiba looked like he was about to explode while Hinata was struggling to hold back tears. Their sensei, Kurenai, was staring at Tsunade with shock and anger building in her eyes.

"Permission to speak Lady Hokage?" Kurenai asked through gritted teeth, her hand gripping Kiba's shoulder tightly to keep the teen from shouting.

"Granted."

"Why are you breaking up my team for this?" Kurenai asked. "Why not place a new member on Team 10 like you have for Team 7 and send all four teams to Kumo?"

"During this past month, I have had all your teams studied by members of ANBU," Tsunade said. "And their reports on your team said that while genin Aburame is ready, genins Inuzuka and Hyuga have not advanced enough for me to be confident in them to advance in the Exams."

"That's…" Kiba shouted before Kurenai slapped a palm over his mouth.

"Kumo's Chunin Exams are much more difficult than our own Exams, and it was genin Inuzuka's inability to keep his mouth shut that caused Team 8 to be eliminated in the first Exam while the majority of the other genin in question managed to reach the Finals," Tsunade said.

"My team has come a long way since then," Kurenai argued. "While I have no doubt that Shino will do very well in the Exams, my team is just that a team. They all should have an…"

"That's enough Jonin Yuhi," Tsunade said sharply. "I have made my decision. Also there are the political ramifications to think about Kurenai. Kumo has already made an attempt on Hinata's life, and I will not have them doing so again especially in a place where we can't help her."

Hinata looked down at the floor while Kurenai and Kiba each put a hand on her shoulders.

"I don't like this anymore than you all do but that's how it is going to be," Tsunade said. Her eyes softened as she looked at the upset members of Team 8. "I am sorry Hinata, Kiba, but for the good of the village, you two will be sitting this one out."

"Yes Lady Hokage," Hinata and Kiba answered, though Kiba looked like he was spitting out the words.

"Good, now it will take a week to travel to Kumo," Tsunade said. "So you will be leaving next week to make sure you all adjust to the environment there. The village is high up in the mountains, so the air is thinner than here. You all may train how you wish but do not go overboard. I will not be happy if one of you manages to get hurt right before leaving," Tsunade finished, staring directly at Lee and Gai. The two taijutsu users nodded rapidly under the intense stare of their Hokage. "Good, now you are all dismissed except for your senseis."

The genin saluted their Hokage and left the office. Even before the door finished swinging shut, the genin could hear raised voices coming from inside the office, particularly the raised voice of one Kurenai Yuhi.

"Why don't we all go get something to eat?" Sakura suggested. "We all have been so busy with training and mission that we haven't seen each other very often."

"That is a good idea," Shino said. "Why you say, because we all have not spent time together and there are things we need to talk about." The others could see, that even with Shino's sunglasses, he was watching his two teammates out of the corners of his eyes.

"Where should we go then?" Ino asked.

"Let's get a table at the BBQ place off Shodai Ave," Tenten suggested. "I have a feeling this discussion should be held away from prying eyes."

The other genin didn't raise an objection and so they set off.

* * *

"Welcome," the hostess said when the group reached the restaurant. "How many in your party?"

"Eleven," Sasuke said. "And we'd like a booth away from the main area, if possible."

"Of course Uchiha-san," the woman answered. "You are in luck, we have a booth available for you all now. Follow me please."

The genin followed the young woman through the restaurant, all the way to the back wall that was lined with several large booths.

"Excuse me, did you say that your party had eleven in it?" the hostess asked as the genin piled into the booth.

"Yes. Wait, where's Sai?" Sakura asked after counting and coming up one short.

"No clue, I thought he was following us," Sasuke said.

"Who cares about that pasty freak," Kiba snarled. "Hey, can we get some sake over here?"

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata gasped.

"Kiba, we aren't old enough to drink," Ino scolded.

"Old enough to kill, old enough to drink," Kiba growled. "My mom told me that once we accepted these headbands, we were considered adults. And I'm an adult then I want to be treated like one, so I want some sake."

The hostess looked conflicted but she obviously recognized Kiba and nodded. "I will return in a few moments with some water and menus," she said. The young woman quickly retreated from the booth afterwards.

"Honestly Kiba, I don't think drinking is going to change anything," Sakura said, frowning at the sulking Inuzuka.

"I know that but I don't care," Kiba snapped. "You are able to go to the Exams but I can't, and why? Because you are the Hokage's charity case and I'm not."

The chatter that the other genin were making instantly went silent at Kiba's comment.

"What do you mean charity case Kiba?" Sakura asked darkly.

Hinata put a hand on her angry teammate's shoulder to quiet him but the angry teen just threw it off. "You heard me Sakura- _chan_ ," Kiba snarled. "If you weren't getting trained by the Hokage, there would be no way in hell you would be stronger than me. Kami, I don't think you are stronger than me even with her help and pity."

A snorting chuckle came from the most unlikely of places, Sasuke. "Kiba, you wouldn't last five minutes against Sakura," he said. "She has gotten a lot stronger since her time in the Academy, or during our first Chunin Exams. You would have known that if you hadn't been kicked out in the first exam."

Sasuke's grin turned vicious when Kiba flinched at the reminder of what he had cost himself and his team.

"Sasuke-kun! Kiba-kun!" Hinata said. "Don't fight, we are here to enjoy ourselves, not fight," she stammered.

"Yeah Sasuke-kun," Ino said. "Ease up on the macho-man stuff, let's just enjoy each others company."

"Tch, easy for you all to say," Kiba said, his head resting on his crossed arms on the table. "You all get another chance to become Chunin. But Hinata and me get left behind, and why? Because the Hokage thinks we are too weak."

"Well, what are you going to do about it then mutt?" Sasuke asked. "Are you just going to sit here and mope, drowning your sorrows and shouting 'boo who, woe is me?' or are you going to do something about it?"

"What did you say Uchiha?" Kiba growled.

"You heard me Kiba, you can just sit around and do nothing," Sasuke said. "Or you can get stronger. Train even harder than you have before; prove to the Hokage that she made a mistake. This goes for you as well Hinata, don't squander this chance."

"Sasuke-kun is right," Sakura said. "You both know that your sensei will be wanting to train you both even harder now. She was not happy that Lady Tsunade spilt your team up."

"That's easy for you to say," Kiba snarled. "Your team has had every advantage to get stronger since we all graduated. The Hokage is teaching you, Kakashi of the Sharingan is training Sasuke, and Jiraiya of the Sannin is personally training Naruto. You three, Team 7, gets all the luck."

"Luck?" Sakura spat. The others turned to look at the pinkette, surprised at the venom in her voice. "You think we are lucky Kiba? Sasuke has been all alone for nearly seven years after happened to his clan. Naruto has been completely alone for his entire life, his parents killed on the very day of his birth. And I am the only non-clan ninja from our graduating class, my parents having to travel a lot for work. All three of us are without a clan or ninja family history to help up train or learn new jutsus, or just be there for us. You at least have a family and clan to support and protect you while you grew up."

Kiba flinched at Sakura's acid tone. Everyone knew the fate of the Uchiha clan, and what happened to Naruto's parents nearly fourteen years ago.

"Excuse me," a new voice said. The genin turned, a young woman with black hair and wearing a white apron over a blue uniform was standing at the foot of the booth. She was carrying a tray with a bottle of sake and a stack of cups balanced on it. "I was told that this table ordered some sake?"

"I don't think we will actually be drinking any of that," Sasuke said. "Please just take it back."

The waitress nodded and walked back to the kitchen with the sake and cups. She then returned a few moments later with some menus. Once the orders were placed and the food delivered, the chatter and arguing died away though to most of the genin present, they could feel a level of tension that would not dissipate even as the meal wound down. Kiba stormed out of the restaurant as soon as the meal was finished, not looking back when Hinata called after him. The group quickly broke apart, heading to their own homes, the enthusiasm and excitement that most had felt when they first gathered completely gone now.

* * *

A week later, Teams 7, 10 and Gai were gathered with their senseis at the village's gates. Lady Tsunade and Shizune were there as well and so were Kurenai and Hinata. They had come to see Shino off though Kiba had refused to come. According to Kurenai, Kiba was not dealing with being left behind well, neither was Kurenai but the jonin was more adept at controlling her emotions. Hinata was barely holding herself together, only the presence of her father and sister, she didn't want to break down in front of her father, and the hands of her sensei on her shoulders kept Hinata from breaking down completely.

"All right then, looks like you are all here and ready to go," Tsunade said, looking over the nine genin and three jonin senseis. "You all know what your mission is, right?" The genin nodded. "Good, then I expect you all to do well and show the world that Konoha is still the strongest village in the world. Good luck, and see you at the Finals."

"Yes Lady Hokage," the genin saluted as one. Tsunade nodded to the genin and their sensei with a warm and proud look.

"All right you lot, let's get moving," Kakashi said. "It will take about a week to reach Kumo, so we have a ways to go."

"Do you think I've done the right thing Shizune?" Tsunade asked her apprentice as the pair walked back toward the Hokage Tower. "Sending those kids off to Kumo?"

"I don't know Lady Tsunade," Shizune answered. "Only time will tell, but I do have faith in the next generation. If they are anything like Naruto-kun is, then I am sure they will do well."

 **A/N: Well there you have it, the newest installment of _Naruto: Hidden Potential_. I hope you all liked it. The chapter is a bit shorter as we begin a new story arc, a new Chunin Exams story arc. I wanted to get this chapter out before the NCAA tournament started because I am not going to have a lot of time to write with both work and praying my bracket doesn't get too busted. Please let me know what you all thought of this chapter, and any ideas on what type of exams Kumo would use to test their Chunin in the Chunin Exams. I have some measure of an outline for the Exams but any other ideas would be most welcome. Til next time,**

 **SlyNinjaKnight**


	9. Update on Future Updates

Hello all,

I know it has been a long time since I have updated either of my Naruto stories, well there is a good reason for that. I have been dealing with a major lose of interest in the series, mainly because of the terrible way the ending of the series was handled by the series creator Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot.

Now of course some of you might claim that I am just being a salty Naruto/Sakura fan, who is mad that my pairing didn't become canon. And I suppose you have a small point with that claim. But the issues that have made me shy away from Naruto are much more than just pairings. I didn't like the rushed way that Kishimoto ended the series, tacking on a hastily created supervillain to take care of Madara because he had made Madara too powerful, and then giving both Naruto and Sasuke superpowers, and making the series more about destiny and prophecy instead of staying true to the series' earlier beliefs of destiny is what you make of it, and fighting against fate.

But now that the anime has also ended, I can hopefully begin to put those issues behind me and get back to writing Naruto stories. Though it will be very difficult since Studio Pierrot has shown its true colors. If you haven't heard about or seen the Naruto finale, you are probably the lucky ones. The final arc of the series is all about Naruto and Hinata's wedding, the gang trying to find the perfect present for the wedding and such. To me, Studio Pierrot has shown that all they cared about was Hinata achieving her dream (marrying Naruto) and not the titular character (Naruto) achieving his (becoming Hokage).

Now some of you might say, well they did show that Naruto become Hokage. But did they really? In that one-shot Kishimoto 'wrote' about the inauguration, we see Naruto miss it because he was knocked out by his daughter, and Kakashi had to have Konohamaru stand in for Naruto. So, Naruto really wasn't crowned as Hokage, unless they did a second inauguration, which if they did, then what was the point of having that one-shot created?

Why not have the final arc of the Naruto animated series be all about Naruto becoming Hokage, having flashbacks to earlier parts of the series, showing his growth and learning what it meant to be Hokage? The show is/was called Naruto for a reason, but now, Studio Pierrot only cared about the pairings that would generate them money. Why not then the finale be Naruto being crowned as Hokage, achieving his dream, with his family there in the background. They could have easily done this, and then had a filler arc about the wedding as an off-shoot of the series, or even do it before the finale.

But no, Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot went with the pairings route, and completely ignored the lessons and themes that Naruto had in at the beginning.

So for the time being, I will be taking a hiatus from writing Naruto. Hopefully one day I will be able to go back to Naruto.

But until then, both of my Naruto stories: _Hidden Potential_ and _Destiny's Worst Nightmare_ will not be updated for the near future. I am truly sorry but I would rather not write something that I take no joy in than force a substandard story on you the readers.

SlyNinjaKnight


End file.
